Winter  Track  Work 


BY 
E.  R.  LEWIS 


V 


TO  THAT  MOST  FAITHFUL  AND  DESERVING  RAILWAY  EMPLOYE 
THE  AMERICAN  TRACKMAN 

THIS   BOOK  IS  DEDICATED 


Copyright,    1917 
Railway  Educational  Press,  Inc., 

Chicago,  Illinois 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 
CLIMATE  AND   TRACK 1 11 

Subgrade — Ballast — Rail  Joints — Track  Structure — Track 
vs.  Bridges  —  Climatic  Variations  —  Weather  Changes  — 
Weather  Signs — Heat  and  Moisture — Hot  Climates — Mild 
Climates — Wet  Climates — Cold  Climates. 

CHAPTER   II 
FROST   27 

Effect  of  Frost — Heaving — Expansion  Not  Uniform — Effect 
of  Cold  Weather  on  Track  Structure— Rail  Rests— Sudden 
Freezing — Extremely  Cold  Climates — Size  of  Winter 
Force — Winter  Inspection — Real  Economy — Skilled  Labor 
Required — Summer  vs.  Winter  Work. 

CHAPTER  III 
SNOW   - 40 

Characteristics  of  Snow — Preparedness — Troublesome 
Places — Advantage  of  Having  Track  on  Embankments — 
Snowplow  and  Flanger  Signs — Shims — Handling  First 
Snows — Clearing  Snow  from  Yards  and  Sidings — Drifts — 
Locomotive  Water  Supply — Snow  at  Terminals. 

CHAPTER  IV 
SHIMS   AND   SHIMMING 51 

Shims — Shimming — Quality  of  Shims — Spike  Killing — Tak- 
ing Out  Shims — Shimming  Requires  Good  Judgment — 
Points  to  Remember — Desien  and  Manufacture  of  Shims — 
Methods  of  Shimming — Wide  Shims — Bad  Practice — Super- 
vision by  Roadmaster. 

CHAPTER  V 
WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 64 

Experienced  Men  Required — Permanent  Employment — 
Piece  Work— Good  Tools— Winter  Tools  and  Materials- 
Winter  Work — Grading  Wages — Getting  Over  Tracks  in 
Winter — Use  of  Sleds — Operation  of  Motor  Cars  in  Cold 
Weather. 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


CHAPTER  VI 
SNOW  FENCES  AND  SNOW  SHEDS —. ., - — ~ - 90 

Kinds  of  Snow  Fence — Location  of  Snow  Fences — Board 
Snow  Fence — Portable  Snow  Fence — Snow  Boards — Perma- 
nent Snow  Fence — Avoiding  Necessity  for  Snow  Fence — 
Other  Types  of  Snow  Fence — Cost  of  Snow  Fence — Wide 
Cuts — Ends  of  Snow  Fences — Location  of  Buildings — Snow 
Sheds — Fire  Protection — Expense  of  Snow  Protection — 
The  Track  Foreman's  Responsibility. 

CHAPTER  VII 
SNOW  HANDLING  EQUIPMENT  _ 105 

V-Shaped  Push  Plow— Shovel-Nosed  Push  Plow— Pilot 
Plows — Flangers — Rotary  Snow  Plows — The  Snow  Crab — 
Clam  Shell  and  Locomotive  Crane — Spreader — Cleaning 
Up  Behind  Plow — Handling  a  Push  Plow — Clearing  Yards 
— Preparing  the  Snow  Plow — Extra  Men — Comfort  of 
Trackmen — Signals — Safety. 

CHAPTER  VIII 
SPRING   FLOODS   ..._ ~~ 133 

Inspection — Conditions  Adjacent  to  Right-of-Way — Wash- 
outs. 

CHAPTER  IX 
STORING    ICE    _ _ - 137 

Cost  of  Putting  up  Ice — Ice  Storage — Location  of  Ice 
Houses — Time  to  Start  Cutting — Conserving  the  Ice  Sup- 
ply. 

CHAPTER   X 
ORGANIZATION   - 141 

First  Requisite — Peculiarities  of  Railway  Organization — 
The  Foundation — Executive  Ability — Suggestions  for  Those 
Desiring  Advancement. 


FOREWORD 

Winter  Track  Work  has  been  written  to  help  the  track- 
man. 

The  present  is  an  age  of  progress.  The  trackman  lives 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  storm  of  the  world's  action.  He  is 
a  part  of  the  human  machine  which  has  helped  to  civilize 
the  world.  The  trackman  is  the  unit  of  labor  of  that  trans- 
portation system  called  "the  railways/'  He  is  necessary 
to  the  railways.  He  is  a  part  of  progress.  His  work  in 
this  world  is  a  real,  a  necessary,  a  vital  work,  a  strong 
man's  work. 

As  no  one  knows  so  little  of  a  battle  as  the  private  in 
the  ranks  who  sees  only  his  individual  part  in  it,  so  we, 
who  are  daily  workers,  realize  less  than  onlookers,  the 
swift  changes  taking  place  all  around  us;  the  astonishing 
progress  in  the  world  of  transportation,  and  in  the  world 
outside  of  transportation. 

The  Trackman  is  getting  the  best  out  of  this  progress 
without  knowing  it.  He  must  accept  the  responsibilities 
as  well  as  the  benefits  of  the  betterments  of  modern  life. 
He  must  continually  strive  to  know  his  trade  better,  to 
learn  and  practice  improved  ways  of  doing  his  work.  He 
must  study  ways  of  getting  the  best  results  out  of  the 
company's  dollar. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  ideal  conditions  men- 
tioned in  this  book  will  all  be  realized  in  any  one  case. 
Xor  is  the  mention  of  ideal  conditions  intended  to  commit 
the  author  to  any  suggestion  of  insistence  on  their  realiza- 
tion. 

We  are  progressing  while  hardly  stopping  to  think  of 
it.  The  author  has  merely  tried  to  point  out  this  progress 
and  to  show  the  path  along  which  it  seems  to  lead. 

December  15,  1916. 

E.  R.  L 


CHAPTER  I. 
CLIMATE  AND  TRACK 

All  those  who  are  interested  in  the  care  of  railway 
track  and  who  understand  maintenance  of  way  and  struc- 
tures, know  that  track,  as  it  is  now  built  and  kept  up, 
is  not  of  the  best  design  from  the  engineer's  or  track- 
man's standpoint. 

Subgrade. — The  subgrade  is  made  up  of  the  earth  or 
rock  nearest  at  hand  during  construction.  It  may  be 
of  hard,  sharp-cornered  rock,  large  and  easily  drained; 
it  may  be  of  slippery  clay,  holding  water  and  sliding 
under  even  small  loading;  or  it  may  be  of  sand  or  loam 
easily  washed  away.  Even  if  the  subgrade  is  good,  it 
may  be  on  a  poor  foundation.  Swamp,  or  muskeg  as  it 
is  called  in  the  north,  is  a  particularly  bad  bottom  for  a 
railway  roadbed,  being  full  of  water  and  difficult  to  drain. 

Ballast. — Branch  and  developing  lines  are  often  bal- 
lasted with  earth.  Most  of  the  railway  tracks  of  the  Mid- 
dle West  were  once  so  constructed.  In  localities  where 
better  ballast  is  needed,  but  where  gravel  or  crushed  stone 
is  only  to  be  had  at  prohibitive  prices,  burnt  clay  is  in  use 
to  some  extent.  Cinders  are  used  where  light  weight  bal- 
last is  necessary. 

But  generally,  railways  are  now  ballasted  with  such  gravel 
or  crushed  stone  as  is  available  from  pits  or  quarries  ad- 
jacent, or  nearest  to,  the  companies'  tracks.  So  the  ballast 
is  not  always  as  good  as  could  be  wished.  The  cross  ties 
are  fastened  to  the  rails  by  spike  only,  each  tie  being  separ- 

11 


\VL\TEH  TRACK  WORK 


ate  from,  and  not  supported  by  adjacent  ties.  Each  rail  is 
laid  across  a  number  of  ties,  so  that  a  track  in  reality  is  a 
series  of  pairs  of  very  shallow  continuous  girders,  held  to 
wooden  cross  sills  by  heads  of  spikes,  which  are  driven  only 
into  the  wood  and  not  even  bolted. 

Rail  Joints. — But  the  worst  has  not  yet  been  said.  The 
weakest  parts  of  the  track,  the  rail  ends,  are  held  together 
by  splice,  usually  angle  bars,  which  are  sometimes  hardly 
half  as  strong  as  the  rails  themselves,  and  which,  more 
often  than  not,  serve  chiefly  to  hold  the  rail  ends  in 
line. 

Track  Structure. — Compare  this  track  now,  with  a 
railway  bridge  built  to  hold  up  the  same  engines  and  the 
same  cars.  The  bridge  is  on  steel  and  concrete  piers. 
The  concrete  piers  are  dug  down  to  solid  earth,  solid 
rock,  or  rest  on  clusters  of  piling.  The  bridge  is  made 
of  steel,  concrete  or  wood,  carefully  placed  with  a  view 
to  its  capacity  for  carrying  several  times  its  proposed 
load.  Each  rivet  is  tested.  Each  stringer  or  girder  is 
carefully  inspected.  The  whole  bridge  is  accepted  only 
after  it  is  built  and  braced  and  in  many  ways  made  more 
than  safe.  It  is  inspected  several  times  a  year,  and  care- 
fully repaired.  The  bridge  is  a  scientifically  designed 
structure,  made  in  the  best  possible  way,  and  kept  in 
the  best  repair.  It  is  on  the  best  possible  foundation  and 
made  of  the  best  materials. 

The  track  at  its  best  consists  of  continuous  girders 
insecurely  fastened  to  short  mudsills,  laid  in  loose  stone 
on  almost  any  kind  of  foundation.  A  railway  track  may 
cost  a  dollar  per  foot ;  a  railway  bridge  on  the  same  line 
may  cost  eighty  dollars  per  foot,  yet  a  man  to  the  mile 
is  expected  to  maintain  the  track  at  a  cost  for  labor  and 
materials  of  $1,000  a  year;  while  the  maintenance  of 

12 


CLIMATE  AND  TRACK 


bridges  will  cost  probably  twenty  times  that   amount, 
mile  for  mile. 

Track  vs.  Bridges. — This  difference  between  the  con- 
struction, the  maintenance,  and  the  cost  of  track  and 
bridge  is  true  in  all  countries  and  in  all  climates.  Why? 
Why  do  we  put  guard  rails  on  bridges  and  not  on  high 
fills?  Why  do  we  keep  watchmen  on  bridges  and  not 
on  track?  Why  do  we  spend  yearly  twenty  times  the 
money  on  a  bridge  that  we  spend  on  an  equal  length 
of  track?  Because,  to  a  great  extent,  we  fear  the  results 
of  a  bridge  accident  more  than  we  fear  a  derailment  on 
solid  ground.  Yet  the  best  reason  is  that  the  track 
structure,  poor  as  we  admit  it  to  be,  is,  like  our  system 
of  government,  the  best  we  have  yet  devised. 

Climatic  Variations. — Now  track,  being  built  out  of 
doors  on  the  ground  and  on  a  foundation  of  earth,  is  sub- 
ject at  all  times  to  the  effects  of  the  weather  and  to  all 
its  changes.  We  know  that  different  parts  of  the  world 
have  different  climates.  We  know  that  there  are  four 
distinct  seasons  in  this  country.  We  know  there  are 
places  nearer  the  equator  where  there  are  only  two  well- 
defined  seasons,  the  wet  and  the  dry.  We  know  that 
there  are  varying  degrees  of  heat,  cold  and  moisture, 
of  rain  and  snow  fall,  of  frost  and  drouth.  All  these 
changes  of  season  must  be  foreseen  and  provided  for 
by  the  trackman  in  caring  for  his  track. 

The  greatest  emergencies  occur,  not  on  account  of  the 
regular  changes  of  season  expected  in  the  well  known 
cycle  of  the  year,  but  in  the  sudden  variation  from  that 
which  is  expected :  the  unusual  flood,  the  quick  change 
from  mild  to  extreme  cold,  the  sudden  intense  heat,  or 
the  heavy  and  unusual  snow  fall. 

There  are  different  ways  of  caring  for  track  in  different 

13 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


countries  because  of  the  differing  conditions.  But  climate 
is  the  chief  reason  for  these  differences.  For  the  weather 
has  ever  to  be  reckoned  with — first,  last  and  always. 

Weather  Changes. — The  trackman  must  be  ever  ready 
for  a  change  in  weather,  be  it  expected  or  unexpected. 
He  must  know  what  effect  it  will  have  on  his  work.  He 
must  know  what  to  do  to  prevent  trouble.  Also,  he 
must  look  ahead,  act  promptly  and  never  be  caught  off 
his  guard.  For  these  reasons  it  is  suggested  that  every 
trackman  should  have  the  latest  and  best  news  of  the 
weather.  It  is  almost  as  important  for  the  section  fore- 
man, the  roadmaster  and  the  extra  gang-  foreman  to  know 
what  weather  to  expect  as  to  know  what  trains  to  ex- 
pect. With  a  correct  schedule  of  trains  and  weather, 
track  work  may  be  done  with  the  greatest  confidence. 
Yet  how.  few  railway  companies  go  to  any  great  pains 
to  inform  section  foremen  of  extra  trains  or  of  unusual 
storms !  It  is  possible  to  do  both,  even  in  sparsely  set- 
tled districts  where  sections  are  located  between  towns. 
Such  a  system  of  information  would  be  of  much  service 
to  a  railway  company. 

The  trackman  is  the  railway  company's  unit  of  labor. 
To  fail  to  give  him  every  possible  help  is  to  maintain  the 
road  at  a  disadvantage.  The  weather  report  and  the 
extra  train  signals  are  as  necessary  to  the  modern  track- 
man as  the  crop  report  and  the  rural  mail  delivery  are  to 
the  modern  farmer.  So  little  expense  is  connected  with 
getting  this  news  to  the  trackman  that  there  is  no  ex- 
cuse for  failure  to  do  so.  The  early  adoption  of  such  a 
system  is  strongly  urged  as  a  matter  of  safety  involving 
all  concerned. 

Weather  Signs. — Though  all  things  that  live  depend 
so  largely  on  climate  for  existence,  mankind  being  no 

14 


CLIMATE  AND  TRACK 


exception,  yet  most  men  give  little  actual  attention  to 
the  plainest  weather  signs,  leaving  the  forecasting  to  a 
paternal  government  and  criticizing  the  weather  man 
when"  the  daily  paper  quotes  him  incorrectly. 

Few  men  are  more  vitally  interested  in  the  weather 
than  the  trackman.  The  farmer,  whose  crops  and  in- 
come depend  so  directly  on  weather,  can  sit  indoors  and 
does  so,  during  most  of  the  worst  weather  of  the  year. 
If  his  roofs  are  tight  and  his  stock  protected  he  has 
little  to  fear  from  a  hard  winter.  The  merchant  loses 
money  in  unseasonable  weather  for  he  buys  stock  sev- 
eral months  in  advance  on  his  judgment  of  what  cus- 
tomers will  want.  Rain  coats  sell  slowly  in  a  dry  sea- 
son. In  mild  winters,  heavy  clothing  and  fuel  must  be 
carried  over.  The  ice  cream  business  is  never  best  in 
cold  weather.  The  banks  feel  these  bad  seasons  from 
the  same  causes,  for  money  is  "not  easy"  unless  crops 
and  stocks  move.  But  the  farmer,  the  merchant  and  the 
banker  do  not  put  all  their  eggs  into  one  basket.  When 
business  in  one  line  is  poor,  it  is  usually  possible  to  do 
more  in  some  other  line.  The  railway  company  has  put 
its  eggs  into  one  basket  and  has  given  the  trackman  the 
job  of  watching  that  basket,  and  he  must  watch  it  for 
better  or  for  worse,  in  all  weather,  by  day  and  by  night, 
year  in  and  year  out,  come  what  will  of  calm  or  storm  or 
unexpected  weather.  In  all  seasons  the  trackman  must 
be  on  duty  out  of  doors.  The  worse  the  weather,  the 
more  important  is  his  patrol  of  track,  the  more  necessary 
his  watchful  eye,  his  cool  judgment,  his  quick  action, 
his  steady  nerves,  his  ready  hand. 

The  best  trackman  is  he  who  gets  the  best  results  from 
a  day's  work.  His  head  must  guide  the  hands  of  his 
gang.  Some  trackmen  seem  always  in  the  right  place 

15 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


at  the  right  time.  Their  track  is  always  in  good  condi- 
tion, yet  they  work  no  harder  than  other  men  who  are 
always  behind.  The  knack  of  doing  the  right  thing  at 
the  right  time  in  the  right  place  in  the  right  way  is  what 
has  been  named  "efficiency."  Unless  a  trackman  knows 
what  the  weather  is  going  to  be  tomorrow,  he  will  not 
be  in  the  right  place.  If  he  is  out  of  town  and  gets  no 
weather  report,  he  must  depend  on  himself  as  a  weather 
prophet,  and  any  man  so  placed  can  learn  something 
about  what  is  to  be  expected  of  the  weather  by  simply 
looking  about  him  occasionally,  at  the  sky,  at  the  clouds, 
at  the  sunset,  at  the  moon.  He  can  learn  by  the  feel  of 
the  air,  by  the  way  the  birds  fly.  Most  experienced 
trackmen  are  good  weather  prophets,  yet  all  may  not 
know  the  following  signs: 

Fog  is  almost  always  followed  by  fine  weather. 

Heavy  dew  means  fair  weather. 

A  heavy,  white  frost  means  that  a  storm  is  forming 
somewhere  within  one  thousand  miles. 

If  smoke  rises  straight  up,  settled  fair  weather  may  be 
expected.  If  it  spreads  out  like  an  umbrella,  storm  may 
be  expected. 

Feathery,  white,  high-flying  clouds  mean  fair  weather. 

Heavy,  dark,  flat-bottomed  clouds  usually  mean  rain. 
Low,  dark,  fast-flying  clouds  appear  before  a  storm. 

Wind,  blowing  even  moderately,  means  snow  or  rain 
is  falling  somewhere  within  one  thousand  miles  of  you. 
Wind  always  blows  toward  a  storm.  If  it  blows  from 
the  south,  expect  a  storm  from  the  north.  If  it  blows 
from  the  north,  expect  a  storm  from  the  south.  When  it 
gets  suddenly  cold  a  storm  is  starting  in  the  south. 
When  it  turns  suddenly  warm,xa  storm  is  forming  in  the 
north. 

16 


CLIMATE  AND  TRACK 


When  objects  a  long  way  off  appear  close,  look  out  for 
rain. 

A  pink  sunset  means  fair  weather  on  the  morrow;  a 
dark  red  sunset  means  storm. 

Weather  usually  changes  with  the  moon.  A  ring 
around  the  moon  means  stormy  weather. 

When  a  storm  is  coming,  sea  birds  fly  toward  land 
and  swallows  fly  low.  Sheep  crowd  close  together  and 
birds  stop  singing. 

Wild  geese  flying  north  indicate  the  early  end  of  the 
winter  season. 

Chief  train  despatchers  get  and  watch  with  closest  in- 
terest all  prophecies  and  reports  of  the  weather.  They 
have  advance  information  from  both  government  and 
railway  sources,  and  trains  are  run  with  these  reports  in 
mind.  Thus,  the  only  cost  to  the  company  of  letting 
trackmen  know  of  weather  changes  and  extra  trains  is 
the  cost  of  sending  out  notices  from  division  headquar- 
ters. The  results  would  seem  to  more  than  justify  the 
small  expense. 

Heat  and  Moisture. — Heat  and  moisture  are  the 
weather  conditions  which  have  most  to  do  with  the  track- 
man's troubles.  Intense,  steady  heat  makes  a  hot  cli- 
mate; moderate  heat  makes  a  mild  climate;  and  too  lit- 
tle heat  makes  a  cold  climate.  Moisture  is  necessary  to 
all  life  and  is  present  everywhere  on  the  earth.  In  hot 
climates  a  dearth  of  moisture  makes  a  desert,  while  ex- 
cessive moisture  causes  stagnant  water,  making  thus  an 
unhealthy  climate.  In  cold  climates  much  moisture  means 
heavy  snow  fall  and  a  dearth  of  moisture  means  hard 
and  deeply-frozen  ground.  The  wind  and  sun  have,  of 
course,  the  effect  of  drying  up  the  moisture,  and  other 

17 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


causes  combine  with  these  to  make  what  we  call  climate, 
or  weather. 

Hot  Climates. — Railway  tracks  are  maintained  in  the 
warmest  and  driest  of  countries,  as  India,  Egypt,  West 
Africa,  Persia  and  Central  America. 

In  the  hottest,  driest  climates,  where  rain  falls  only  a 
few  weeks  during  the  year,  and  the  railway  is  laid  in 
sand,  the  track  must  be  covered  in  ballast  to  the  rail 
•  Surface  of  ballast 


SECTlOfl 


Fig.    1  —  Track   Covered   with    Ballast   to    Rail    Heads   as   a   Protection 
Against   the  Heat  of  the   Sun. 

heads  to  prevent  the  blazing  sun  from  heat-checking  the 
ties  and  from  kinking  the  track  on  account  of  expanding 
rails.  Ties,  spikes  and  tie  plates  are  all  covered.  Noth- 
ing but  the  rail  heads  are  seen,  except  at  the  joints  where 
the  ballast  is  kept  scraped  away  just  enough  to  clear 
the  bolts  and  nuts.  Even  then  trouble  is  had  occasion- 
ally with  kinking  track.  A  piece  of  straight  track  in  the 
desert  looks  like  two  shining  ribbons,  which  stretch 
away  into  the  distance,  shimmering  and  dancing  in  the 
uncertain  heat  waves  until  they  melt  into  one  where  the 
sky  comes  down  to  what  looks  like  a  lake,  but  which  we 
know  to  be  the  track  mirage  at  the  horizon  line.  Such 
track  must  be  carefully  ballasted,  the  large  stones  at  the 
bottom  and  the  smallest  on  top  to  keep  out  the  heat. 

Desert  countries  which  lie  far  above  sea  level  but  near 
the  equator,  are  usually  very  dry  most  of  the  year,  hav- 
ing only  -a  few  weeks  of  wet  weather.  But  in  such 
places  there  is,  even  in  the  driest  seasons,  a  surprisingly 

18 


CLIMATE  AND  TRACK 


heavy  fall  of  dew  which  cools  the  ground  at  night  and 
causes  track  rails  to  contract  quickly  and  excessively. 

In  many  such  localities,  wood  ties  must  be  imported 
and  are  very  expensive,  while  in  others  the  white  ant, 
an  underground  wood  borer,  destroys  wood  ties  in  a  few 
months.  For  these  reasons  steel  ties  of  various  shapes 
have  been  used.  Some  British  roads  have  used  pressed 
steel  ties  like  "U"  shaped  troughs  turned  upside  down. 
In  the  driest  climates  these  ties,  when  taken  out  of  track, 
nearly  always  are  full  of  earth  or  sand  which  clings  to 
the  under  side  of  the  tie,  the  earth  originally  having  been 
moistened  by  the  dew  which  collects  at  night,  and  then 
baked  hard  by  the  heat.  •  This  sand  is  so  hard  that  it 
has  to  be  picked  out  when  the  ties  have  been  removed 
from  the  track. 

In  tropical  climates,  where  the  average  ground  temper- 
ature is,  say  170  deg.,  it  is  astonishing  how  cool  and 
damp  the  ground  may  be  at  from  9  to  12  in.  under  the 
surface.  From  this  difference  in  heat  arise  queer  track 
conditions  which  are  confusing  to  the  stranger. 

Even  when  the  track  is  covered  in  ballast  to  the  rail 
heads,  it  will  kink  between  showers  in  the  wet  season,  as 
the  sun  comes  out  very  hot  and  its  effect  is  soon  noticed. 
Then  too,  the  hard  showers  wash  away  the  fine  top  bal- 
last, giving  the  heat  a  chance  to  expand  the  rails  before 
the  ballast  can  be  replaced. 

In  deserts  where  loose  sand  is  the  only  or  the  usual 
ballast,  the  tie  tamping  must  all  be  done  in  the  short  wet 
season  and  all  the  labor  to  be  had  is  then  put  onto  this 
one  job.  The  sand  must  be  wet  by  means  of  a  hose  if 
ties  need  tamping  in  the  dry  season.  Water  is  carried 
in  tank  cars  for  this  purpose,  but  is  used  only  in  extreme 
cases,  for  water  is  both  scarce  and  expensive. 

19 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


Drainage  too  is  difficult,  for  the  little  rain  that  falls 
usually  comes  in  very  heavy  and  sudden  showers.  It  fills 
gullies,  culverts  and  stream  beds  which  are  dry  the  other 
eleven  months  of  the  year.  Many  large  culverts  must 
be  maintained  over  streams  which  are  nearly  always  dry.  It 
is  hard  to  dam  these  streams  or  to  save  the  water  for  use  in 
the  dry  season  because  of  its  force  when  the  streams  are  in 
flood  and  because  the  soil  is  so  loose  and  cuts  so  easily. 

Mild  Climates. — There  are  climates  which  have  no  ex- 
treme seasons ;  where  there  is  little  difference  between 
summer  and  winter;  where  60  deg.  is  the  coldest  and  80 
deg.  the  hottest  temperature :  where  the  rains  are  gentle 
and  well  distributed,  and  where  a  tie  can  be  changed  as 
well  in  January  as  in  July.  Such  climate  is  scarce  and 
the  railways  in  such  countries  are  unfortunately  short 
and  few. 

The  weather  in  our  central  and  southern  states,  while 
reasonably  mild,  has  less  to  recommend  it.  Still,  frost 
conditions  are  never  severe  and  the  winter  seasons  are 
short  as  compared  with  the  summer  seasons.  They 
have,  however,  the  great  problems  of  varying  rainfall 
and  drainage  to  deal  with.  Further  north  we  find  a  cli- 
mate of  varying  conditions  in  winter.  Each  winter  sea- 
son seems  to  have  a  few  very  cold  snaps,  with  mild  and 
thawing  weather  between.  Occasionally  there  are  excep- 
tionally heavy  snow  storms  which  tie  up  the  railroads, 
largely  because  of  unpreparedness.  The  equipment  is 
unsuited  to  handling  snow  and  the  companies  employ 
few  men  who  would  know  how  to  handle  snow  equip- 
ment if  they  had  it.  Sleet  storms  often  follow  the  snow, 
and  tie  up  telegraph  communication.  Thus,  the  greatest 
damage  to  traffic  is  to  be  expected  in  those  localities 

20 


CLIMATE  AND  TRACK 


where  extremely  cold  weather  is  the  exception  and  where 
the  best  preparations,  for  that  reason,  are  seldom  made. 

Wet  Climates. — Excessive  moisture,  whether  in  cold, 
mild  or  hot  country,  is  at  the  bottom  of  more  track 
troubles  than  any  other  one  condition.  There  are  cli- 
mates so  wet  that  the  railway  right-of-way  must  be 
ditched  and  drained  before  any  grading  is  started;  where 
track  work  must  be  delayed  until  the  rain  stops,  and 
then  rushed  through  in  the  short,  dry  season ;  where 
weeds  spring  up  before  the  grade  is  finished  and  must 
be  mowed  before  track  is  laid ;  where  it  is  impossible 
to  keep  ballast  free  from  weeds,  and  hard  to  keep  weeds 
mowed  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  traffic ;  where  borrow 
pits  become  rivers  and  cut  away  the  railway  grades ; 
where  dykes  break  from  pressure  of  water  and  flood 
railway  yards  and  tracks.  It  is  easy  to  see,  therefore, 
that  drainage  is  one  of  the  most  important,  if  not  the 
most  important,  problem  of  railway  building  and  main- 
tenance. 

If  roadbed  and  ballast  are  well  drained,  track  may  be 
maintained  cheaply  in  almost  any  climate.  Whereas, 
without  good  drainage  it  is  impossible  to  have  good 
track,  no  matter  how  much  money  is  spent  on  it.  A 
track,  like  a  house,  should  be  built  on  a  secure  founda- 
tion. The  first  consideration  in  building  a  house  is  the 
sewer  to  carry  off  drainage  from  the  foundation.  The 
next  is  a  solid  bottom  on  which  to  set  the  foundation. 
The  next  is  a  good  foundation.  The  same  things  are 
necessary  in  track ;  first,  a  well  drained  right  of  way ; 
second,  a  solid  bed  for  the  grade ;  third,  a  well-compacted 
roadbed ;  fourth,  a  well-crowned  subgrade ;  fifth,  well 
drained  ballast — drainage — good  drainage  first,  last  and 
always. 

21 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


Common  sense  should  teach  that  a  hollow-topped  road- 
bed will  hold  water;  that  a  level-topped  roadbed  will 
not  shed  water;  and  that  a  railway  track  will  soon  be 
pressed  down  into  a  level-topped  roadbed  by  the  weight 
of  trains,  thus  making  a  hollow  top  to  the  roadbed  in 
which  water  will  be  held,  making  soft  track ;  that  the 
only  proper  way  to  make  a  roadbed  for  any  kind  of 
travel,  from  a  country  wagon-road  to  a  class-A  railway, 
is  to  crown  the  roadbed  so  it  will  always  stay  crowned 
and  always  shed  the  water,  instead  of  holding  it  till  it 
soaks  into  the  earth. 

Hollow-topped  roadbed  results  in  soft  track  in  sum- 
mer, and  heaving  track  in  winter.  The  raising  of  the 
track  gives  little  relief.  The  only  real  cure  is  to  get  to 
the  bottom  of  the  wet  spot  and  drain  it,  to  dig  the  bal- 
last out  and  build  up  the  crown  of  the  bank.  This  method 
is,  of  course,  hardly  possible  in  track  under  traffic 

Many  well-crowned  railway  fills  are  made  hollow- 
topped  by  widening  them  and  carrying  the  shoulder 
above  the  bottom  of  the  ballast.  The  damage  done  by 
hollow-topped  roadbed  depends  largely  on  the  kind  of 
ground  of  which  it  is  made.  Water  will  quickly  seep 
away  through  sand  or  other  coarse  filling.  Clay  will  hold 
water  longer  than  almost  any  other  material. 

Farm  tile  cross  drains  laid  far  enough  below  the  bal- 
last to  drain  the  bottom  of  the  hollow  form  the  most  prac- 
tical remedy.  Cinder  covering  over  the  tile  will  help, 
as  cinders  will  not  mix  much  with  the  clay.  Cases  are 
known  where  cinders  on  clay  have  sunk  into  the  clay 
only  an  inch  in  twenty  years  under  ordinary  railway 
traffic. 

Clay  in  wet  climates  will  often  bear  little  load,  for  it 
will  slide  when  it  gets  wet  under  pressure.  It  is  hardly 

22 


CLIMATE  AND  TRACK 


ever  possible  to  tell  just  how  much  weight  a  clay  foundar 
tion  on  a  slope  will  bear  without  sliding.  If  it  does  slide 
under  the  weight  of  a  fill,  it  will  not  help  matters  to  stop 


PLAN  OF  Em  OF  EMBANKMENT 

X"  Jf7-  X2~X3  -Lines  of  Slide.     T~-  Trenches  in  which  wood  is  fired  to  bake  clay  h 
prevent  further  sfk/iny. 


SICTlOfl  SHOWING  SLIDING  EMBANKMENT 

A-Q-B*  Longitudinal  section  of  trench  in  which  wood  is  fired  h  bake  the  clay  to 
prevent  further  sliding. 

Fig.  2— Method  of  Baking  Clay  to  Stop  Sliding  of  Embankment. 


filling.  The  filling  should  go  on  until  the  slide  finally 
stops  or  else  the  line  should  be  changed.  It  is  possible 
to  stop  clay  from  sliding  by  burning  it  like  brick.  The 
method  is  to  dig  ditches  into  the  bottom  of  the  slide,  to 

23 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


fill  with  timbers  or  old  ties,  and  to  set  them  on  fire  and 
gradually  cover  with  the  clay  dug  from  the  trenches. 
The  burning  and  covering  should  be  kept  up  for  several 
weeks,  until  the  clay  is  burnt  hard.  It  will  be  found, 
then,  that  the  water  has  dried  out,  leaving  the  clay 
cracked  in  all  directions.  These  cracks  will  drain  any 
water  which  gets  into  the  burnt  clay  afterwards,  and  it 
will  be  found  too  hard  and  crumbling  to  do  any  more 
sliding. 

Railway  banks  have  been  cured  of  sliding  by  thus 
burning  the  clay  in  trenches  dug  along  each  side  at  the 
toe  of  slope;  and  the  ends  of  banks  at  bridge  ends  have 
been  stopped  from  sliding  by  burning  the  material  in 
trenches  dug  fanwise  into  the  toe  of  slope,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  2. 

Cold  Climates. — In  cold  countries  the  frost  often  strikes 
very  deep,  especially  under  track,  because  the  ground  is 
kept  bare  or  nearly  bare  by  the  snowplows  and  trains. 

In  one  case,  a  culvert  top  failed  in  mid-winter.  This 
small  culvert  was  under  a  20-ft.  railway  bank.  The  dirt 
came  down  and  nearly  filled  the  culvert,  but  water  from 
a  spring  above  trickled  through  and  gradually  took  the  dirt 
down  with  it.  In  this  way  a  hole  some  6  ft.  across  was 
formed  in  the  bank  from  bottom  to  top,  but  not  until  early 
spring  did  the  top  cave  in,  when  it  was  found  that  the  frost 
was  6  ft.  deep.  This  culvert  failure  was  under  main  track 
but  it  was  discovered  before  any  damage  was  done,  by  an 
engineer  who  ran  a  light  engine  over  it,  the  tie  ends  on  the 
crust  of  frost  holding  the  track  up. 

In  cold  climates  the  frost  goes  out  slowly  in  spring, 
with  many  setbacks,  and  alternate  freezings  and  thaw- 
ings.  Frost  will  readily  leave  well  drained  track,  but  in 
badly  drained  track  the  water  is  held  till  it  seeps  away 

24 


CLIMATE  AND  TRACK 


into  the  ground,  which  must  thaw  thoroughly  before  the 
water  can  find  its  way  out.  Meanwhile  the  track  heaves, 
and  shims  must  be  changed  daily.  Much  has  been  said 
and  written  of  the  business  of  maintaining  track.  The 
foundation  of  this  and  of  all  other  road  work,  from  foot- 
path to  railway,  is  drainage.  Drainage  means  safety  to 
the  trackman. 

The  railway  companies  of  this  country  spend  millions 
each  year  to  maintain  track  on  roadbeds  that  never  can 
be  good,  because  they  were  poorly  made  to  start  with. 
Occasionally  some  very  bad  spot  is  dug  out  and  made 
good,  but  most  of  the  hollow-topped,  poorly-drained 
roadbed  will  probably  never  be  wholly  remedied. 

In  cold  climate  ties  can  be  placed  and  ballast  worked 
only  during  six  months  of  the  year.  The  winter  months 
are  spent  in  shimming  track,  gaging,  tightening  bolts, 
bucking  snow  and  picking  ice. 

After  the  tie  renewals  are  finished  and  track  surfaced 
in  summer,  the  road  is  in  best  condition  usually  in  the 
late  autumn.  From  early  winter  until  the  frost  is  out 
in  the  spring,  the  track  conditions  gradually  get  worse. 
Not  only  is  the  track  in  prime  condition  during  only  a 
few  weeks  in  autumn,  at  an  expense  equal  to  that  neces- 
sary to  keep  it  in  good  condition  the  year  around  in 
warmer  climates ;  but  great  expense  is  necessary  to  keep 
the  track  passable  during  the  winter  and  early  spring 
months,  when  frost  and  snow,  ice  and  flood  must  be 
fought  and  conquered  by  the  track  forces,  which  are 
frequently  reduced  to  less  than  the  economical  limit. 

To  carry  railway  tracks  through  a  winter's  campaign 
in  the  cheapest  and  best  way,  dauntless  leaders,  experi- 
enced men,  proper  tools  and  proper  equipment  are 
needed. 

25 


CHAPTER  II. 
FROST. 

From  the  trackman's  point  of  view,  and  for  the  pur- 
poses of  this  book,  the  term  "frost"  is  considered  as 
weather  cold  enough  to  make  ice;  or  freezing  weather. 

Effect  of  Frost. — As  a  matter  of  fact,  weather  not  quite 
so  cold  as  freezing  will  cause  track  to  heave.  The  freez- 
ing point  on  the  thermometer  in  common  use  in  this  coun- 
try is  thirty-two  degrees  above  zero ;  but  track  will  heave 
when  the  cold  gets  below  39.2  degrees. 

If  an  open  can,  or  other  vessel,  with  a  bottom  1  ft. 
sq.,  and  sides  1  ft.  high  be  filled  with  1  cu.  ft.  of  water 
weighing  62^  Ib.  at  a  time  when  the  thermometer  shows 
39.2  deg.,  the  water  will  expand  and  overflow  when  it  gets 
colder  or  warmer.  When  the  thermometer  has  dropped 
to  the  freezing  point,  32  deg.,  one-twelfth  of  the  water  put 
in  the  can  at  39.2  deg.  will  have  spilled  over. 

If  the  can,  instead  of  being  open,  has  been  covered  and 
soldered  air  tight,  a  quick  change  to  a  colder  temperature 
will  expand  the  water  and  break  the  can.  This  breaking 
is  due  to  what  is  called  the  force  of  expansion,  which  is 
the  same  force  that  makes  track  kink  on  hot  days. 

Heaving. — When  the  weather  gets  cold,  this  force  of 
expansion  makes  the  water  in  the  ballast  and  roadbed 
quickly  take  up  more  room.  It  cracks  the  grade  on  the 
shoulder  and  heaves  the  track  up.  When  we  stop  to 
think  that  this  force  of  expansion,  at  the  moment  when 
water  freezes,  may  be  as  great  as  30,000  Ib.,  or  15  tons  to 
the  square  inch,  it  is  not  surprising  that  track  heaves  and 


FROST 


iron  pipes  split  and  leak  when  freezing.  Frost,  then,  is  at 
the  bottom  of  most  of  the  trackman's  troubles  in  winter. 

Water,  when  the  thermometer  stands  at  39.2  deg.  above 
zero,  weighs  nearly  62^  Ib.  to  the  cubic  foot,  while  ice 
weighs  less  then  57^  Ib.  to  the  cubic  foot.  This  difference 
in  weight  is,  we  may  say,  made  by  the  overflow  of  water 
from  the  tin  can.  There  is  not  so  much  of  it  left  to  freeze 
because  it  has  spilled  out  in  expanding  as  it  got  colder; 
or  else  it  has  bulged  and  broken  the  can,  with  the  same 
result. 

Every  trackman  who  has  had  track  alongside  a  lake, 
must  have  noticed  in  freezing  weather  that  the  ice  cracks, 
expands  and  shoves  hard  into  the  shore.  It  has  been 
known  to  push  track  out  of  line  when  the  track  was  6  ft. 
or  more  from  the  water's  edge.  In  such  cases,  it  is  a 
good  thing  to  cut  a  trench  2  ft.  wide,  or  wider,  in  the  ice 
alongside  the  track,  say  50  feet  from  the  center  line,  or  as 
far  as  needed,  remove  the  ice  from  the  trench  and  slide 
poles  slantwise  under  the  ice  to  skid  the  lake  ice  up  on 
top  of  the  shore  ice.  If  a  2-ft.  trench  is  simply  left  open, 
it  will  sometimes  close  up  in  one  night.  But  if  the  skids 
are  so  set  that  the  lake  ice  crowds  up  on  top  of  the  shore 
ice,  there  will  usually  be  no  more  trouble  for  the  lake  ice 
can  travel  40  feet  without  doing  any  harm. 

If  frost  gets  into  or  behind  retaining  walls,  or  into  con- 
crete or  brick  walls,  the  heaving  will  crack  or  bulge  the 
walls  or  crack  the  bricks,  blocks  or  stone.  Brick,  concrete 
or  stone  which  will  take  up  water  is  called  porous, 
because  the  water  gets  into  the  pores.  When  it  freezes 
and  expands  there,  it  cracks  the  brick,  concrete  or  stone, 
and  they  are  said  to  "weather  badly." 

Heavy  rains  late  in  the  fall,  followed  by  frost,  are  said 
to  make  track  "go  into  the  winter  badly."  This  is  because 

27 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


the  rain  works  into  the  ballast  newly  put  in  or  surfaced 
through,  and  freezing  there,  makes  the  track  heave. 
Naturally,  there  is  less  trouble  from  heaving  after  a  dry 
autumn. 

Expansion  Not  Uniform. — If  the  expansion  which 
causes  track  to  heave  were  everywhere  the  same  or 
nearly  the  same,  no  trackman  would  need  to  worry,  be- 
cause the  track  would  be  lifted  the  same  height  every- 
where and  would  be  about  as  smooth  as  in  summer. 

But  this  is  not  what  happens.  If  a  culvert  has  been 
filled,  the  track  may  heave  badly  over  the  new  fill  because 
it  is  looser  than  the  old  grade,  and  the  ballast  on  each  side 
takes  more  water  in  and  expands  more  when  it  freezes. 
This  makes  a  short  high  spot  in  the  track. 

Again,  track  will  heave  on  each  side  of  a  bridge  while 
the  bridge  does  not  heave,  but  becomes  a  low  spot. 
Ground  under  crossing  plank  will  not  heave  equally  with 
ground  not  under  cover.  It  is  frequently  a  good  plan  to 
take  out  from  between  the  rails  all  the  crossing  plank 
and  to  fill  the  spaces  with  snow,  to  prevent  brake  rigging 
and  locomotive  pilots  from  catching  in  heaved  planking  and 
causing  damage  or  derailments. 

Fence  posts  which  have  been  pointed  and  driven  point 
down  are  often  heaved  out  of  the  ground  in  cold  weather. 
If  the  fence  post  has  any  shoulder  or  bark  or  large  knots 
at  or  near  the  surface  of  the  ground,  the  heaving  ground 
has  something  to  catch  on  and  lifts  the  post.  Instead  of 
pointing  fence  posts  and  driving  them,  in  swamps  or  soft 
ground,  it  is  better  to  anchor  the  posts  by  cleats  nailed 
across  the  bottom  ends.  This  will  prevent  the  posts,  if 
buried  deep  enough,  from  heaving  and  spoiling  the  fence. 

Wooden  trestles,  with  bottom  sills  resting  on  the 
ground  will  heave.  To  prevent  this,  the  ground  should 

28 


FROST 


always  be  shoveled  away  from  under  the  sill,  even  if  a 
trench  has  to  be  dug  and  drained  for  the  purpose. 

Effect  of  Cold  Weather  on  Track  Structure. — Ties  split 
very  easily  in  frosty  weather.  This  splitting  may  be 
prevented  by  boring  round  holes  and  driving  the  square 
spike  in  them  at  the  quarters,  leaving  full  spiking  to  be 
done  at  mid-day,  or  when  the  weather  moderates. 

Frost  makes  rail  brittle  and  ballast  hard.  These  condi- 
tions, and  uneven  surface  due  to  heaving,  are  to  blame  for 
many  broken  rails  found  in  winter.  Shimming  the  most 

RaiK  


"Concrete 


„, 


Fig.  3 — Concrete  Rail  Rests. 

uneven  spots  improves  the  track  surface ;  but  a  very  large 
percentage  of  broken  rails  will  probably  continue  to  be 
found  in  freezing  weather,  from  these  causes. 

Rail  Rests. — For  this  reason,  it  is  advisable  to  have 
rails  distributed  on  each  section,  preferably  two  rails  to 
the  mile  of  single  track.  Two  rails  and  fastenings  should 
be  kept  on  a  rail  rest  at  each  milepost  so  that  section 
foremen  will  have  them  handy  in  case  of  rinding  broken 
rails  in  track.  These  rail  rests  may  be  made  of  ties,  or  of 
concrete  as  shown  in  Fig.  3.  One  object  in  having  these 
rail  rests  always  at  mileposts  is  that  everyone  will  know 
where  to  look  for  them  when  rail  is  needed,  whether  in 
case  of  wreck,  derailment  or  broken  rail. 

29 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


Sudden  Freezing. — Sudden  freezing  when  the  track  is 
almost  under  water,  due  to  melting  snow  and  heavy  rains, 
is  sometimes  disastrous,  and  miles  of  track  have  to  be 
picked  clear  of  ice  when  frozen  under.  Usually  these 
troubles  attack  track  which  has  a  hard  center,  due  to 
flanging  for  only  a  short  distance,  say  14  in.,  inside  the 
track  rails,  the  snow  and  ice  having  been  left  in  the 
middle  of  the  track  until  it  gets  so  hard  that  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  plow  it  out.  The  center  of  every  track  should  be 
cleared  of  snow  after  each  storm,  before  the  snow  gets  too 
hard  to  plow,  if  the  track  is  to  be  maintained  in  the  safest 
winter  condition.  Frost  is  much  more  to  be  feared  than 
snow,  though  of  course  it  is  the  combination  of  the  two 
that  makes  track  work  hardest  for  all. 

Extremely  Cold  Climates. — In  the  far  north,  where  the 
cold  gets  so  severe  as  50  to  60  deg.  below  zero;  where 
the  ordinary  thermometer  is  unreliable  and  the  spirit 
thermometer  is  used;  where  one's  breath  crackles  as  it 
blows  past  one's  ears ;  where  opening  a  window  causes  a 
shower  of  frost  to  blow  in  because  of  the  cold  air  striking 
the  warm,  moist  air  inside;  where  warm  water  thrown 
from  a  pail  rattles  to  the  ground  outside  in  a  thousand 
pieces  of  ice;  where  in  December,  the  sun  only  peeps 
above  the  fir  trees  for  a  few  hours  each  day,  and  is  gone: 
where  the  nights  are  long  and  the  stars  glitter  coldly; 
where  the  ''northern  lights  come  down  o'  nights  to  dance 
with  the  houseless  snow;" — in  these  far  northern  climates 
winter  is  indeed  a  hardship  for  the  trackman.  In  the 
crisp,  dry  air  of  the  far  north,  the  frost  knows  no  sur- 
render. It  is  one  long  battle  from  early  fall  until  late 
spring.  Thawing  days  are  unknown.  Snow  comes  early 
and  each  storm  increases  its  depth.  None  melts  until 
spring.  Moccasins  may  be  worn  for  six  months  without 


FROST 

getting  wet  once.  Each  wind  that  blows,  drifts  the  snow, 
and  frost  prevents  it  from  packing.  Engines  steam  badly ; 
gasolene  cars  are  out  of  the  question;  train  pipes  freeze 
and  track  at  water  tanks  must  be  watched  hourly  to  keep 
the  rails,  flanges  and  centers  free  from  ice. 

Of  the  greatest  service  in  such  extreme  cold  is  the 
steam  hose.  The  steam  hose  is  made  of  3-ply  rubber, 
measures  from  1  in.  to  ij^  in-  across,  inside,  and  is  fitted 
with  about  3  feet  of  gas  pipe  at  one  end,  for  a  nozzle. 
The  coupling  is  a  loose,  6-sided  brass  nut  that  can  be 
screwed  to  the  steam  dome  valve.  A  locomotive  with  a 
line  of  50  feet  of  steam  hose  coupled  on  to  a  globe  valve  in 
the  steam  dome,  with  coal  well-housed  and  dry,  with 
storm  curtains  protecting  the  gangway,  with  a  good  pilot 
plow  supplied  with  outside  flangers,  set  close  to  the 
pony  truck  and  replacing  the  pilot,  with  a  crew  used 
to  flanging  and  plowing  and  making  way  over  a  winter 
track,  can  do  more  to  help  itself  than  any  number  of 
snowplows  can,  unless  the  snow  is  very  hard,  deep  and 
heavy. 

The  steam  hose  can  be  used  to  thaw  ice  from  water 
tanks,  to  clear  ice  from  the  running  gears,  and  to  thaw 
out  switch  points,  or  rail  flanges  at  crossings. 

Size  of  Winter  Force. — It  seems  a  common  idea  that 
in  winter  the  maintenance  forces  should  be  cut  down, 
because  the  section  men  "can't  do  anything  much  in 
severe  winter  weather."  There  is,  of  course,  more  to  do 
on  some  roads  than  on  others,  in  winter.  But  it  is  no 
longer  a  question  among  trackmen  whether  the  section 
gang  should  be  cut  down  to  one  or  two  men  and  a  fore- 
man. The  force  should  not  be  cut  down  too  close,  for 
the  following  reasons : 

31 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


First,  because  of  the  necessity  for  looking  out  for  the 
safety  of  the  traveling  public ; 

Second,  because  having  enough  men  in  all  gangs  saves 
money  for  the  company ; 

Third,  because  good  section  labor  is  skilled  labor,  and 
skilled  men  cannot  be  hired  and  fired  like  cabmen  on  a 
city  street. 

As  to  safety :  when  a  track  heaves  it  goes  out  of  sur- 
face. One  rail  is  often  higher  than  the  other,  or  both 
may  heave  several  inches  high  for  a  distance  of  only  a  few 
feet.  These  high  spots  must  be  shimmed.  The  track 
usually  heaves  in  spots  all  over  a  section  at  the  same 
time.  Every  rail  in  it  may  be  up  today  and  down  tomor- 
row. -The  side  motion  of  engine  and  cars  may  widen  the 
gage  on  account  of  uneven  elevation  of  the  rails.  Spring 
hangers  are  in  danger  of  breaking.  Crossing  rail  flanges 
get  frozen  full  of  ice  which  causes  derailments,  if  not 
picked  out.  High-shimmed  track  is  dangerous,  for 
spikes  don't  reach  far  into  the  tie  and  bracing  must  be 
well  done.  This  work  needs  the  best  of  judgment  and 
the  closest  of  attention  from  the  most  experienced  track- 
men. Shimmed  track  is  a  continuous  nightmare  for  men 
in  the  "know."  It  must  be  gone  over  by  day  and  by 
night.  It  must  be  watched  from  fall  till  spring.  It  is 
hard  to  tell  when  high-shimmed,  snow-covered  track  is 
spread,  or  braces  loose.  It  must  be  left  rough  where  it  is 
dangerous  to  shim  higher ;  and  slow  orders  be  put  on  and 
obeyed  to  the  letter. 

Winter  Inspection. — When  track  is  rough,  there  is 
danger  of  breaking  the  rail  if  the  speed  is  fast  and  the 
loads  are  heavy.  Trackmen  must  therefore  watch  care- 
fully in  winter  for  broken  rails.  There  is  more  need  of 
careful  track  walking  in  winter  than  in  summer.  The 

32 


FROST 


weakest  spot  in  the  track  is  the  joint.  The  best  rail  joint 
depends  on  bolts  and  nutlocks  to  keep  it  tight  against  the 
rail.  Bolts  get  loose  on  account  of  weather  changes,  as 
well  as  other  causes.  It  is  therefore  most  important  to 
keep  bolts  tight  in  winter  when  the  rails  are  in  most 
danger  of  breaking  from  frost,  and  through  movement 
under  trains.  Most  rails  break  at  the  bolt  holes.  There  is 
also  more  danger  of  signal  wires,  telegraph  and  telephone 
wires  and  interlocking  plants  getting  out  of  service  from 
winter  conditions  than  from  summer  conditions.  There 
is  danger  of  persons  being  hurt  on  icy  platforms  at  sta- 
tions. There  is  danger  of  trees,  loaded  with  ice  and  snow, 
falling  across  tracks. 

There  is  danger  from  gorged  streams  overflowing  and 
freezing  in  track.  There  is  danger  from  hidden  switch 
lights,  snowed  over  or  frosted.  There  are  a  thousand 
emergencies  in  winter  calling  for  the  head  and  hand  of  the 
experienced  trackman.  There  should  always  be  enough 
men  on  the  daily  track  inspection  trip  to  take  out  a 
broken  rail  and  put  in  a  good  rail.  This  work  must  be 
done  under  the  protection  of  flags.  Few  main  tracks 
now  have  rails  that  weigh  less  than  80  Ib.  to  the  yard. 
They  are  usually  33  ft.,  or  11  yds.  long.  They  weigh  880 
Ib.  each.  A  broken  rail  must  be  rolled  out.  The  spike 
must  be  pulled  on  one  side.  The  new  rail  must  be  loaded 
off  the  rail  rest  and  taken  to  its  place  in  the  track,  un- 
loaded, placed  and  spiked.  In  many  cases  it  must  be  cut 
or  the  track  bucked  back  until  it  will  fit  in.  Now,  how 
many  men  should  be  in  a  gang  to  handle  such  a  job? 

Again,  it  takes  one  man  at  least  a  day  in  summer  to 
inspect  and  tighten  the  bolts  on  five  miles  of  single  track. 
He  must  walk  10  miles  besides  tightening  bolts,  first  on 
one  side  and  then  on  the  other,  of  the  track.  This  is  a 

33 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


stiff  day's  work  if  it  is  done  right,  especially  with  the 
present-day  system  of  putting  half  the  nuts  on  one  side 
of  a  joint  and  half  on  the  opposite  side.  Also  the  track 
walker  must  carry  a  track  wrench,  maul,  spare  bolts  and 
nuts,  and  nutlocks. 

But  in  winter,  storms  and  cold  bring  ice  and  snow  and 
make  walking  slower  and  harder  work,  while  the  burden 
of  heavy  clothing  and  overshoes  and  a  shovel  to  clean 
snow  and  ice  from  rail  joints,  doubles  the  work  of  bolt 
tightening,  which  should  then  be  done  by  two  men. 
There  seems  every  reason  why  winter  track  forces  should 
be  increased,  from  the  standpoint  of  "safety  first." 

Real  Economy. — From  the  economy  standpoint,  too, 
a  small  force  is  extravagant.  Because  a  railway  company 
has  escaped  disaster  during  an  unusually  mild  winter 
with  a  foreman  and  one  or  two  men  to  a  section,  is  some- 
times taken  as  a  reason  for  trying  it  again. 

But  economy  does  not  always  mean  saving.  Too  much 
saving  is  poor  economy  in  track  maintenance.  It  costs 
about  so  much  a  mile  each  year  to  maintain  track.  If 
maintenance  is  robbed  one  year,  it  must  cost  more  the 
next.  Inexperienced  men  are  of  no  more  use  on  a  sec- 
tion than  in  a  machine  shop  or  a  bank.  A  section  man  is 
not  a  trackman  until  he  has  worked  on  a  section  for,  at 
the  very  least,  12  months  running,  for  there  is  a  different 
work  for  each  season  and  each  month.  It  is  cheaper  for  a 
railway  company  to  pay  three  good  section  men  a  good 
wage  the  year  around  than  to  hire  inexperienced  extra 
gang  men  or  extra  section  men  for  a  few  months  in  sum- 
mer. Until  those  who  control  the  hiring  realize  that 
trackmen  are  skilled  laborers,  and  that  to  keep  them  the 
year  around  is  economy,  money  will  be  thrown  away  which 
could  easily  be  saved. 

34 


FROST 

A  record  of  the  number  of  accidents  to  trains  prevented 
by  trackmen,  and  of  the  cost  of  accidents  not  prevented, 
might  help  to  an  understanding  of  why  the  trackman  is 
so  badly  needed  in  winter. 

Skilled  Labor  Required. — It  is  so  often  argued  that  un- 
skilled labor  can  be  used  on  track  that  a  few  questions  to 
the  arguer  may  be  a  help : 

Can  you  drive  a  spike? 

Can  you  tamp  a  tie? 

Can  you  use  an  adz? 

Can  you  flag  a  train? 

Can  you  line  track? 

Can  you  tighten  a  bolt  just  tight  enough  and  not  too 
tight  ? 

Can  you  cut  a  rail,  or  brace  a  shim,  or  do  any  one  of 
the  hundred  things  that  a  trackman  must  do? 

You  surely  cannot  unless  you  have  had  experience. 
But,  you  say,  green  hands  do  get  this  work  done.  They 
do  not,  unless  the  foreman  teaches  them  or  unless  other 
trackmen,  who  have  had  experience,  teach  them.  And 
all  the  time  these  men  are  learning,  the  company's  prop- 
erty as  well  as  passengers'  lives  are  more  or  less  in 
danger.  These  dangers  can  be  stopped,  without  any  extra 
cost,  by  getting,  paying,  and  keeping  all  the  year  around, 
trackmen  of  brains  and  experience.  This  idea  has  been  a 
long  time  getting  started,  but  it  has  come  to  stay.  Many 
companies  are  keeping  more  men  in  the  track  department 
in  winter  than  they  used  to,  and  there  is  work  now  being 
done  in  winter  that  used  to  be  rushed  through  in  summer. 
In  the  next  ten  years,  the  track  man  will  come  into  his 
own.  He  will  be  known  as  a  skilled  laborer  because  he 
can  no  longer  be  called  anything  else.  Skilled  labor  calls 

35 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


for  steady  work,  and  steady  work  it  must  be  for  those 
who  want  and  should  have  it. 

Summer  vs.  Winter  Work. — The  summer  work  is  no 
more  important  than  the  winter  work,  nor  is  there  any 
more  of  it  outside  of  a  few  stock  jobs,  which  are  usually 
done  by  extra  gangs,  or  by  contract.  The  idea  that  a 
trackman  can't  do  much  in  winter  sounds  childish  to  the 
man  who  knows  what  a  track  is,  what  it  needs  and  how  it 
should  be  maintained.  If  such  men  only  were  in  authority, 
few  trackmen  would  be  discharged  in  winter  and  better 
track  would  be  kept  for  less  money  than  is  now  spent. 

Take  the  one  item  of  keeping  bolts  tight.  A  rail  should 
last,  say  30  years.  It  now  lasts  possibly  15  years  in  main 
track.  Why?  Because  it  gets  surface  bent.  Why  does  it 
get  surface  bent?  Because  the  ends  are  bent  down  when 
the  trains  go  over.  Why?  Because  the  joints  are  weak. 
Why?  Because  they  get  loose  and  work  up  and  down 
and  don't  hold  the  rails  tight  together ;  so  the  rails  get  bent 
on  the  ends.  What  would  make  the  joints  strong  so  they 
would  hold  the  rails  close  and  tight  and  keep  them  from 
getting  down  at  the  joints?  Why,  any  sort  of  bolts  and 
nuts  and  nutlocks  or  washers  that  could  be  kept  tight. 

Why  do  the  bolts  that  we  now  have  get  loose?  Oh, 
because  the  trains  shake  them  loose.  Exactly,  exactly. 
And  the  bolts  we  now  use  can  be  kept  tight  up  at  the 
joints  and  from  five  to  ten  years  or  more  added  to  the  life 
of  the  rail  if,  summer  and  winter,  it  is  made  someone's 
particular  business  to  do  this  particular  work. 

Rail  costs  $4,000  to  $5,000  per  mile  of  track,  or  say 
$25,000  to  the  5-mile  section.  If  one  trackman,  at  $2  a 
day,  spent  one-fifth  of  his  time  tightening  bolts  on  a  sec- 
tion, and  if  he  made  the  rail  last  only  five  years  more  than 
the  fifteen  years'  usual  life,  he  would  save,  roughly,  one- 

36 


FROST 

fourth  of  its  life  which  is  equal  to  one-fourth  its  cost  and 
interest  on  the  money  spent.  Is  it  worth  while? 

But  that  is  not  all  the  bolt-tightener  saves.  He  saves, 
for  an  interval  of  five  years,  the  cost  of  taking  the  rail  out, 
sawing  off  the  ends  and  putting  another  in  its  place,  and  the 
interest  on  the  money  which  would  have  been  expended 
for  such  work.  He  saves  rough  track,  and  wear  on  cars 
and  engines,  on  wheels  and  spring  hangers,  and  on  engine 
frames  and  trucks.  He  saves  money  spent  on  everything 
that  goes  over  the  rail  joint,  and  interest  on  the  cost  saved. 
Think  of  it!  Is  it  any  wonder  that,  time  out  of  mind, 
trackmen  have  longed  for  the  time  when  men  who  really 
"know  track"  could  get  the  attention  of  the  officers  who 
spend  the  money  for  railway  companies,  to  show  them  the 
mistake  of  mishandling  track  forces  by  cutting  them  down 
in  winter,  by  hiring  green  hands,  and  by  forcing  the  slight- 
ing of  track  conditions? 

Farming  has  so  changed  that  it  is  now  a  very  different 
business  from  farming  20  years,  or  even  10  years  ago. 
So  with  the  furniture  business,  the  grocery  trade,  the  auto- 
mobile business.  Is  it  to  be  said  that  the  railway  business, 
the  maintenance  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  miles  of  track 
that  carries  the  goods  that  make  possible  all  other  trade  in 
this  country,  has, not  progressed?  Can  not  railway  men 
learn  this  lesson  ?  The  money  question  is  the  only  thing  in 
the  way.  Well,  the  money  question  is  here  no  question, 
for  untold  millions  can  be  saved  by  just  keeping  your  bolts 
tight.  Do  you  need  any  better  argument,  Mr.  Trackman? 
If  so,  figure  out  to  your  boss  a  few  other  items  of  saving 
on  a  section,  possible  with  experienced  trackmen  compared 
with  men  who  don't  know  the  business.  How  about  tamp- 
ing ties,  or  draining  ballast  or — the  list  is  almost  endless, 
the  possible  saving  almost  out  of  reckoning.  These  things 

37 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


are  known  and  have  been  known  for  years  to  trackmen, 
to  men  who  think  for  themselves — and  they  are  becoming 
known  to  others.  The  trackman  is  coming  into  his  own. 
He  will  not  long  be  idle  in  frosty  weather. 


CHAPTER  III. 
SNOW. 

One  of  the  first  results  of  frost  or  freezing  weather  is 
snow,  usually  only  a  few  flakes  during  the  first  days  of  early 
winter.  These  seem  harmless  enough,  but  the  trackman  of 
experience  in  a  northern  climate  takes  grave  notice  of  these 
wintry  messengers,  and  prepares  for  the  long  struggle.  He 
well  knows  that  however  good  his  track  may  ride  in  late 
fall,  it  will  be  rough  enough  before  spring  and  that  he  must 
stand  by,  day  after  day,  through  the  long  winter  season  and 
see  it  go  from  smooth  to  rough  without  power  to  prevent. 
He  knows  that  these  scattering  snow  flakes  "a  moment  seen, 
then  gone  forever"  are  the  forerunners  of  the  deep  snow- 
fall, of  the  swirling  drift  of  midwinter,  and  of  the  hard 
banks  of  sandy,  icy  snow  that  must  be  shoveled  off  and 
loosened  with  a  pick  "when  the  days  begin  to  lengthen." 

Characteristics  of  Snow. — Snow  is  defined  as  "con- 
gealed aqueous  vapor,"  which  means  that  snow  is  the  frozen 
dampness  from  the  clouds.  Any  one  who  has  traveled  fast 
through  a  heavy,  damp  fog  will  remember  how  wet  the  front 
of  his  coat  has  been  from  the  tiny  drops  of  moisture.  Such 
dampness  falling  from  the  clouds,  freezing  on  its  way  down 
or  just  as  it  starts  to  fall,  into  clusters  of  little  ice 
needles,  is  snow.  Each  flake  of  snow  is  made  up  of  thou- 
sands of  tiny,  separate  needles  of  ice,  always  placed 
together  to  form  six  sided  shapes,  which  are  of  many  differ- 
ent patterns,  as  may  be  seen  by  using  a  magnifying  glass. 
Each  of  these  wee  ice  crystals  glitters  brightly  in  the  light, 
making  the  snowflake  look  white  like  snow,  instead  of  like 

39 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


clear  ice.  A  snowflake  is  not  made  in  the  same'  way  as  a 
hailstone.  Hail  is  made  up  of  rain  drops,  which  are  driven 
about  among  thunder  clouds  and  upward  into  freezing  air 
by  hard-blowing,  cold  wind,  and  frozen  into  ice,  or  ice  and 
snow,  before  they  fall  to  the  earth.  When  these  upward- 
blowing  winds  are  very  strong,  they  sometimes  blow  many 
rain  drops  together,  and  they  freeze,  making  big  hailstones. 
We  know  that  snow  is  not  so  heavy  as  ice  and  that  ice  is 
not  so  heavy  as  water.  Any  trackman  who  has  helped 
shovel  snow  into  an  engine  tank  when  it  was  nearly  out  of 
water,  will  remember  how  very  little  water  a  tank  full  of 
snow  seems  to  make.  But  if  snow  will  melt  into  water,  it 
will  also  freeze  into  ice  if  the  flakes  are  tamped  or  pounded 
together.  The  more  dampness  there  is  in  a  cloud  from 
which  snow  falls,  the  bigger  will  be  the  snow  flakes.  Large 
rain  drops  usually  fall  in  summer  showers  which  are  short 
and  local.  It  is  the  same  with  snow.  Large  snow  flakes 
come  in  unsettled  winter  weather  and  we  might  call  these 
storms  "snow  showers."  Severe  snow  storms  start  usually 
with  fine  snow,  just  as  severe  rain  storms  start  usually  with 
fine  rain.  The  air  near  the  ground  is  warmer  than  it  is  a  mile 
above  the  ground.  The  further  one  goes  above  the  ground, 
the  colder  the  air  becomes.  We  read  of  airmen  who  have 
to  dress  in  winter  furs  in  summertime  when  flying,  and  who 
still  suffer  from  cold  when  flying  very  high.  So  we  often 
have  snow  from  the  upper  cold  air  when  the  air  near  the 
ground  is  so  warm  that  the  snow  melts  into  slush  soon  after 
it  falls. 

Even  this  snow  that  melts  is  bad  for  track,  because  it 
forms  water  that  soaks  into  the  ballast  and  under  the  ties 
to  th"e  subgrade.  If  the  subgrade  is  not  well  drained,  the 
water  which  collects  stays  there  till  it  can  seep  away.  But 

40 


SNOW 


if  the  subgrade  is  frozen  the  water  will  stay  there  till 
spring,  freezing  and  thawing  time  and  again  and  each  time 
heaving  the  track.  Such  a  track  is  said  to  have  "gone  into 
the  winter  badly."  Late  fall  rains,  coming  after  track  has 
been  surfaced  through,  and  early  winter  snows  that  melt  on 
the  track  will  get  through  the  ballast;  and  if  the  subgrade 
will  hold  it,  the  water  will  cause  the  track  to  heave  again 
and  again  all  winter  long,  with  every  freeze  and  thaw.  This 
track  may  be  down  today  and  up  tomorrow,  first  in  one  spot, 
then  in  another,  and  always  out  of  surface.  The  only  rem- 
edy is  to  shim  and  watch  and  shim  again. 

Preparedness. — Preparedness  is  the  keynote  of  the 
snow  campaign,  just  as  it  is  in  the  case  of  a  military  cam- 
paign, except  that  in  the  snow  campaign  the  battle  is  assured, 
It  is  only  a  question  as  to  how  severe  it  will  be,  for  snow 
fighting  is  a  war  against  a  relentless  foe  .who  gives  no  quar- 
ter. When  and  where  and  how  and  with  what  force  he 
will  strike  is  never  known  until  the  storm  is  upon  us.  Even 
the  scouting  done  by  our  weather  bureau  cannot  give  us  any 
too  much  notice — at  most  a  day  or  two.  How  long  the 
struggle  will  last  and  whether  a  second  storm  is  in  reserve 
to  strike  as  soon  as  the  force  of  the  first  is  spent,  it  is  im- 
possible to  know  exactly.  The  trackman  must  be  prepared 
in  all  ways  to  take  hourly  advantage  of  any  and  all  turns 
which  may  be  to  his  advantage  in  the  tide  of  battle.  His 
orders  must  be  given  and  obeyed  promptly,  for  there  is  no 
time  for  argument  in  the  midst  of  battle. 

There  is  a  tendency  sometimes  for  those  not  in  direct 
charge  of  track  to  slight  the  preparations  for  snow-han- 
dling, especially  in  the  late  fall  and  early  winter.  Engines 
may  be  scarce  and  therefore  the  testing  of  plows  and  flangers 
may  be  put  off  till  too  late.  Cars  may  be  scarce  and  there- 

41 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


fore  shims  may  not  be  distributed  early  enough.  There  is 
a  sporting  chance  that  next  winter  will  be  as  mild  as  last 
winter,  and  that  the  expensive  repairs  needed  to  put  broken 
rotary  plows  in  running  order  may  not  have  to  be  made. 
Power  for  revenue  freight  must  be  furnished  first  and  none 
may  be  left  to  run  snowplows  after  the  first  storm  or  two. 
Besides,  it  is  extra  work,  it  costs  money  for  which  no  money 
is  directly  returned,  and  it  lessens  the  monthly  statement 
of  earnings.  These  mistakes  "come  home  to  roost"  later 
in  the  winter.  It  is  the  trackman's  duty  to  call  attention 
to  these  things,  and  to  keep  calling  attention  to  them  until 
he  gets  results.  Undoubtedly  it  is  not  pleasant  to  do  so, 
but  the  trackman  knows  the  conditions  better  than  anyone 
else.  The  despatcher  from  his  desk  can  neither  see  the 
track  nor  know  its  needs.  Officers  cannot  always  judge 
track  conditions  from  an  occasional  trip  on  a  fast  train.  It 
is  the  trackman  who  should  know,  and  it  is  the  trackman 
who  should  tell,  and  keep  telling  the  needs  for  snow  fight- 
ing, till  he  gets  the  necessary  attention  and  equipment  and 
tools  for  his  winter's  work.  Knowing  this,  he  should  start 
early  and  get  well  equipped  before  the  first  snow  falls.  He 
must  prepare  every  autumn  for  the  hardest  known  winter 
on  his  territory.  There  is  no  other  safe  way  of  doing.  Lack 
of  foresight  in  snow  handling  is  just  as  fatal  as  in  train 
handling.  Often  the  mistakes  in  snow  handling  are  the 
more  far-reaching  and  expensive.  One  hard  winter  poorly 
prepared  for,  may  cost  a  railway  company  more  than  has 
been  saved  during  several  mild  winters  by  curtailing  ex- 
penses for  snow  fighting  necessities.  Preparedness  for  win- 
ter track  work  depends  on  past  experience  with  the  weather 
conditions  in  any  certain  territory ;  with  the  kinds  of  tracks, 
yards  and  terminals  to  be  protected,  as  well  as  with  the 
equipment  and  tools  at  hand  for  use. 

42 


SNOW 


The  handling  of  new  snow  is  easy,  but  the  handling  of 
old  snow  is  the  hardest  kind  of  work.  Long-continued  win- 
ter storms,  when  it  snows  and  blows  every  day  for  a  number 
of  days'  running,  are  hard  to  deal  with.  Extreme  cold  adds 
much  to  the  trouble.  Water-supplies  freeze ;  engines  do  not 
steam  well;  rails  break  easily.  Everything  made  of  steel 
breaks  easily  in  cold  weather. 

Troublesome  Places. — There  are  always  well-known 
bad  spots,  where  snow  causes  severe  trouble,  on  every 
northern  railway  division.  They  may  be  protected  by  snow 
sheds  or  snow  fences,  or  they  may  be  unprotected ;  but  they 
are  all  well-known  to  the  trackman.  Even  so,  he  may  find 
storms  coming  from  different  ways  in  different  winters. 
Snow  collects  in  long,  low,  narrow  cuts.  They  soon  drift 
full  and  there  is  little  room  in  which  to  push  the  snow  back. 
This  snow  is  hardly  deep  enough  to  call  for  a  rotary  snow- 
plow,  especially  if  the  rotary  is  badly  needed  in  heavy  drifts 
elsewhere.  Here  is  a  case  where  the  trackman  needs  to 
use  good  judgment — and  all  of  his  available  equipment. 

Advantage  of  Having  Track  on  Embankments. — In 
places  where  the  winters  are  long  and  severe,  and  the  snow- 
fall heavy,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  build  the  track  a  foot  higher 
than  the  average  height  of  the  snow  in  midwinter.  If  the 
snow  gets  2  ft.  deep,  track  should  be  built  on  3-ft.  fills 
instead  of  at  grade.  This  allows  for  the  ridge  of  snow, 
made  on  each  side  of  the  track  by  the  snowplow,  besides 
the  depth  of  snow  outside  the  track.  If  the  snow  on  each 
or  either  side  of  the  track  is  higher  than  the  rails,  snow 
drifts  will  form.  If  the  rails  are  higher  than  the  snow, 
any  snow  which  blows  will  not  stay  on  the  track,  but  will 
blow  across  and  drift  against  the  first  fence  or  brush  pile 
it  comes  to.  Building  track  on  a  3-ft.  fill  to  do  away  with 
cuts  is  not  so  expensive  as  one  might  think  because  the  cuts 

43 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


are  sometimes  in  rock,  but  the  fills  are  nearly  always  of 
earth.  The  extra  cost,  if  any,  of  so  building  a  road,  will 
be  made  up  in  better  maintenance  conditions,  which  benefits 
increase  with  time  at  compound  interest. 

Snowplow  and  Flanger  Signs. — One  of  the  trackman's 
first  duties  in  preparing  for  winter  in  the  north  is  to  set 
his  snowplow  markers  or  flanger  signs.  These  markers  are 
small  signs  which  are  set  in  the  ground  before  it  freezes,  to 
show  the  snowplow  operator  the  switch  leads,  crossing 
plank  and  cattle  guards,  and  any  other  obstacles  which  may 
be  covered  by  snow  and  too  close  to  the  track  to  let  the 
snowplow  wing  pass,  extended;  or  too  high  for  flanger 
knives.  Before  getting  to  each  of  these  signs  the  operator 
closes  the  wings  of  the  plow,  and  raises  the  flangers.  When 
putting  up  markers  in  the  fall  the  trackman  must  be  careful 
to  miss  no  objects  which  need  to  be  marked.  He  must  look 
out  for  low-  piles  of  broken  stone,  gravel,  cinders,  sand 
and  broken  draft  rigging  which  may  be  in  the  clear  for 
trains  but  not  for  extended  snowplow  wings.  If  possible, 
in  every  snowy  country,  cattle  guards  should  have  wing 
fences  laid  so  flat  or  so  far  from  the  track  center  that 
extended  snowplow  wings  will  not  hit  them. 

Shims. — Stocks  of  shims  should  be  distributed  to  the 
car  houses  or  wherever  else  they  will  be  handiest  for  the 
foremen.  Braces  for  shims  and  special  shimming  spike 
should  also  be  distributed.  Coarse  -salt  and  rattan  brooms 
are  necessary,  with,  of  course,  snow  shovels  and,  scoops. 
The  quality  of  all  these  tools  and  articles  is  important  and 
should  be  thoroughly  understood  and  tried  out  before  win- 
ter begins.  It  is  often  advisable,  as  has  been  said  in  a 
former  chapter,  to  take  out  the  crossing  plank  on  each  side 
of  track  rails  and  fill  the  space  with  snow,  because  of  danger 
to  trains  from  these  plank  heaving.  Some  trackmen  take 

44 


SNOW 


out  their  cattle  guards;  for  when  they  are  covered  with 
snow,  no  livestock  will  be  turned  by  them.  It  is  customary 
for  many  roads  to  take  switches  and  frogs  out  of  the  main 
track  temporarily  if  they  will  not  be  needed  for  a  number 
of  months.  This  is  especially  handy  in  winter,  for  the  com- 
pany saves  not  only  the  wear  and  tear  on  the  switch  mate- 
rials, but  the  cost  also  of  keeping  it  free  from  snow  and 
ice.  Signs,  of  which  there  are  too  many  by  far  on  nearly 
every  railroad  in  the  country,  should  be  set  well  back  from 
the  track  to  clear  the  snowplow  wings  when  extended. 

Handling  First  Snows. — One  of  the  most  important 
preparations  for  a  hard  winter's  snow  fighting  is  to  get  the 
first  snows  as  far  away  from  the  track  as  possible.  All  the 
room  will  probably  be  needed  for  later  snowfalls.  Snow 
that  falls  between  the  rails  gives  trouble  till  it  is  out 
of  the  track  and  off  the  roadbed.  To  make  a  clear  space 
for  wheel  flanges,  northern  roads  use  flangers  on  locomo- 
tives, or  specially  built  cars.  These  flangers  drop  down 
an  inch  or  two  below  and  clear  a  space  about  10  in.  wide 
just  inside  each  track  rail.  The  snow  in  the  middle  of  the 
track  is  not  removed.  If  left  long  in  the  middle 'of  the 
track,  this  snow  gets  hard  and  icy,  and  accumulates  until 
it  is  higher  than  the  rail — as  high  as  truss  rods  and  brake 
gear  will  allow.  When  it  gets  high  enough  and  hard 
enough  so  that  brake  beams  drag  and  truss  rods  cut  into  it, 
it  will  keep  engines  from  pulling  full  tonnage.  Snow  should 
be  plowed  out  after  each  storm.  Nothing  should  be  allowed 
to  interfere  with  plowing  out  the  center.  If  no  plow  is  at 
hand,  one  should  be  fitted  up  as  soon  as  possible  and  put 
to  work.  It  is  surprising  how  many  railways  are  helpless 
in  this  respect,  having  snow  equipment  for  all  purposes  ex- 
cept to  handle  snow  below  the  level  of  the  rail  in  the  middle 
of  the  track. 

45 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


Clearing  Snow  from  Yards  and  Sidings. — There  is  an 
ice-plowing  attachment  for  a  center  plow,  called  a  fine-tooth 
comb,  which  will  handle  ice  and  hard  snow  when  properly 
managed.  In  clearing  snow  from  yards  and  wayside-pass- 
ing tracks,  spreaders  or  long  wings  are  very  effective 
and  are  used  by  many  railways.  If  two  adjacent,  par- 
allel tracks  can  be  cleared  of  cars  at  the  same  time  all  the 
snow  in  a  yard  can  be  shoved  from  one  track  to  another 
and  off  to  one  side  of  the  yard.  But  if  this  has  to  be 
done  often,  the  snow  banks  at  the  side  of  the  yard  get 
too  old  and  hard  and  icy  to  move.  A  steam  shovel  of  some 
sort,  preferably  a  fast  moving  ditcher,  will  then  have  to  be 
used  to  shovel  the  hard  snow  further  back.  This  is  slow 
work  at  best  and  the  machine  which  will  do  the  quickest 
work  is  cheapest.  Snow  is  much  lighter  than  gravel, — which 
steam  shovels  usually  are  built  to  move, — so  a  larger  bucket 
can  be  used.  The  bale  of  the  shovel  or  bucket  generally 
limits  the  width  of  a  shovel,  but  it  is  feasible  to  extend  the 
nose.  The  steam  ditcher  is  desirable  because  of  the  spud, 
especially  in  wet  snow. 

Drifts. — In  open  flat  country  where  there  is  little  or 
nothing  to  break  the  force  of  the  winter  winds,  drifting 
snow  gives  the  most  trouble.  Sand  and  dust  drifts  with 
the  snow  and  fills  in  the  low  cuts  sometimes  faster  than  it 
can  be  removed. 

Intensely  cold  weather  adds  trouble  by  freezing  the  loco- 
motive water  supplies  solid  in  reservoirs  and  tanks.  In  such 
weather  the  snow  in  drifts  becomes  hard  and  frozen  while 
still  seeming  to  be  almost  dry.  Drifts  which  are  high  on 
one  side  are  especially  hard  to  handle  with  a  snowplow.  It 
is  dangerous  to  run  a  plow  into  a  hard  snowdrift  without 
first  shoveling  the  track  rails  clear,  far  enough  into  the 
drift  to  be  sure  that  sand  and  ice  will  not  derail  the  plow. 

46  .. 


SNOW 


A  face  of  snow  two  or  three  feet  deep  should  be  made. 
Two  locomotives  should  be  with  the  snowplow,  one  loco- 
motive handling  the  plow  when  bucking  the  drifts,  the  other 
engine  being  ready  to  pull  the  plow  and  its  locomotive  back 
into  clear  if  it  sticks  in  the  snow.  Sometimes  three 
engines  are  used,  two  on  the  plow  and  one  to  pull  them  out 
when  fast  in  the  snowdrift.  A  great  deal  of  this  bucking 
of  snowdrifts  must  be  done  on  account  of  narrow  cuts — 
because  there  is  no  room  to  spread  or  throw  out  the  snow. 
The  ideal  remedy  for  such  conditions  is  to  widen  the  cuts, 
flatten  the  slopes  and  deepen  the  ditches  so  that  the  track 
will  look  as  if  on  a  3-ft.  fill  instead  of  down  in  the  bottom 
of  a  narrow  cut.  This  will  give  room  for  snow,  which  will 
then  often  be  whipped  out  of  the  wide,  flat-sloped  cut  by 
the  wind  instead  of  drifting  the  cut  full. 

Locomotive  Water  Supply. — The  failure  of  locomotive 
water  supplies  is  a  serious  matter.  The  only  remedy  in 
extreme  cases  is  to  haul  water  in  tank  cars  from  places 
where  it  has  not  frozen.  At  times  the  water  in  these  cars 
will  freeze  unless  a  little  steam  is  kept  running  into  each 
tank. 

A  locomotive  should  be  equipped  with  a  globe  valve  on 
the  steam  dome  for  use  with  a  steam  hose.  Enginemen 
and  snowplow  operators  should  be  kept  supplied  with  wood 
alcohol  for  clearing  the  glass  in  windows  and  port  holes 
from  steam,  ice  and  snow.  Weather  strips  on  engine- 
cab  and  snowplow  windows  help  to  keep  out  the  snow 
and  wind.  A  housing  of  dressed  and  matched  lumber  over 
the  coal  in  engine  tanks  is  a  necessity  for  good  work  in 
snowy  weather.  Tarpaulins  are  extensively  used  with  good 
results  in  gangways  of  locomotives.  Engineers  not  experi- 
enced in  snow  handling  will  usually,  when  stalled  in  snow, 
skid  the  drivers,  burn  the  rail  and  get  the  track  full  of 

47 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


water  and  ice  trying  in  vain  to  start  after  stalling.  If  in- 
stead of  doing  this,  the  engineer  will  back  up  a  few  feet, 
get  the  rails  cleared  of  snow  with  the  scoop,  and  sand  them 
for  a  rail  length  ahead  of  the  pilot,  he  will  stand  a  good 
chance  of  being  able  to  again  start  his  train  If  he  stalls 
again,  repeating  the  process  for  two  or  more  rail  lengths 
may  help  him  out  of  the  trouble.  Trying  to  start  from  a 
standstill  in  deep  snow  is  equal  to  trying  to  jump  by  lifting 
on  one's  boot  straps;  yet  it  is  too  often  the  first  thing  done 
when  a  locomotive  is  stopped  by  snow. 

Snow  at  Terminals. — Much  of  the  trouble  of  handling 
snow  about  roundhouses  and  locomotive  terminals  is  be- 
cause of  the  number  of  spur  tracks  to  be  cleaned;  because 


Fig.  4 — Diagram  of  a  Section  Through  Concrete  Turntable  Pit,  Showing 
Heat  Pipe  and  Overflow  Pipe. 

of  the  space  between  the  roundhouse  and  turntable  having 
to  be  shoveled  and  the  snow  loaded  on  cars ;  and  because  of 
ice  forming  about  the  roundhouse  doors  so  as  to  prevent 
them  from  being  opened. 

A  simple,  yet  apparently  little-known  arrangement  will 
do  away  with  most  of  this  trouble  and  pay  for  itself  in 
money  saved  in  a  short  time.  The  turntable  pit  should  be 
deepened,  if  necessary,  and  a  water-tight  concrete  floor  laid 
in  it.  The  inlet  of  the  turntable  pit  sewer  should  be  ex- 

48 


SNOW 


tended  straight  up  into  the  air,  with  a  suitable  bend,  as  high 
as  the  turntable  center  or  within  an  inch  or  two  of  that 
level.  The  pit  should  then  be  flooded  with  hot  water  to  the 
top  of  this  overflow  pipe.  This  water  can  be  kept  hot  with 
exhaust  steam  led  through  a  pipe  from  the  roundhouse. 
Instead  of  shoveling  the  snow  out  of  the  turntable  pit  onto 
cars,  all  the  snow  about  the  pit  and  house  can  now  be 
shoveled  into  the  hot  water  in  the  pit,  to  melt  and  run  off 
through  the  sewer. 

In  case  the  turntable  pit  is  in  clay,  it  may  hold  water 
without  a  concrete  lining.  The  only  expense  then  will  be 
to  put  in  the  sewer  overflow  and  the  steam  pipe.  One 
laborer  will  then  keep  the  snow  and  ice  away  from  the 
whole  plant,  getting  the  same  result  as  the  snow  train  with 
its  crew  of  engine  and  trainmen  and  shovelers. 


49 


CHAPTER  IV. 
SHIMS  AND  SHIMMING. 

Until  recently,  the  work  which  was  done  in  winter  by 
the  trackmen  of  northern  railways  was  restricted  almost 
entirely  to  that  necessary  to  keep  lines  open  for  traffic. 
Little  or  no  repairs  were  made  to  track  or  roadway. 
Maintenance  forces  were  cut  down  almost  to  the  mini- 
mum necessary  to  clear  switches  of  snow,  shim  the  rails 
and  patrol  tracks.  While  these  conditions  are  still  un- 
changed on  many  roads,  there  is  a  growing  tendency 
to  e'xtend  the  winter  program,  and  so  to  keep  more  of  the 
men  in  track  gangs  permanently  employed. 

While  shims  are  provided  and  shimming  paid  for,  the 
subject  seems  to  have  attracted  less  attention  than  its  im- 
portance merits.  Few  books  on  railway  maintenance  make 
any  mention  of  shims.  There  is  no  standard  shim  and  no 
standard  way  of  applying  shims.  Each  railway  company 
has  gone  its  own  way  in  shimming,  relying  on  the  judgment 
of  its  maintenance  officers  as  to  what  was  the  best  way  to 
meet  the  needs  of  its  special  territory. 

Shims. — Track  shims  are  small  pieces  of  hardwood 
boards  of  varying  thicknesses  placed  on  ties  and  under 
the  rail  to  raise  the  height  of  rail  in  low  spots  to  cor- 
respond with  the  heights  of  rail  in  high  spots  which 
occur  on  account  of  frost  heaving  the  track  unevenly. 
Shimming  is  of  only  temporary  benefit ;  the  money  spent 
on  it  brings  no  return.  Track  shimmed  in  autumn  is 
in  worse  condition  in  spring  than  track  that  has  not 

50 


SHIMS  AND  SHIMMING 


needed  shims.  Shims  put  in  must  be  removed  at  con- 
siderable cost. 

Certainly  the  conditions  under  which  shims  are  used 
are  different  in  different  climates  and  on  different  rail- 
ways. Tracks  in  the  middle  states  generally  are  high- 
speed tracks  in  fairly  good  ballast  maintained  under 
moderate  weather  conditions.  These  tracks  seldom  heave 
very  badly  and  they  need  few  heavy  shims. 

But  the  number  of  shims  used  in  tracks  not  so  well 
favored  is  astonishing.  On  account  of'  the  high  speeds 
which  are  required  in  winter  as  well  as  in  summer,  any  small 
unevenness  in  track  is  a  discomfort  to  passengers.  There- 
fore, many  hundreds  of  thin  shims  per  mile  are  used. 
Nearly  all  companies  have  branches,  spurs  and  sidings  laid 
with  lighter  rail  and  less  ballast  than  the  main  line  tracks. 
These  branch  lines  need  heavier  shims,  more  braces,  and 
fewer  thin  shims.  Lines  farther  north  use  very  few  thin 
shims.  The  heavier  shims  used  must  be  of  durable  wood, 
for  they  are  often  in  the  track  for  three  or  four,  or  even 
five  months.  During  this  time,  the  shims  may  be  snowed 
over  during  all  except  the  last  few  weeks.  Therefore, 
they  must  be  put  solidly  in  place  and  as  solidly  braced. 

Shimming. — While  the  differences  in  climate  and  other 
conditions  no  doubt  account  for  some  of  the  differences 
in  methods  of  shimming  on  different  railways,  still  there 
is  evidence  in  some  cases  of  lack  of  forethought  in  this 
important  matter. 

Whatever  work  a  man  has  to  do,  it  is  well  for  him 
to  try  to  think  it  out  for  himself ;  to  know  not  only  what 
he  is  going  to  do,  but  why  it  must  be  done,  how  it  can 
best  be  done,  and  what  will  be  the  results  after  it  is  done. 
The  trackman  often  must  act  first  and  think  afterward, 
so  far  as  improvements  are  concerned.  • 

51 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


But  he  should  think — be  it  before  or  after ;  and  he  should 
think  independently  and  form  his  own  conclusions.  This 
done,  it  is  well  to  ask  advice  and  find  out  by  talking 
it  over  with  others,  who  should  know,  whether  he  is  right 
or  wrong  in  his  conclusions,  and  why. 

From  cause  to  effect  is  the  usual  way  to  get  at  it. 
Track  must  be  shimmed — why?  Because  it  heaves  un- 
evenly in  spots.  Track  heaves — why  ?  Because  water 
in  ballast  and  roadbed  expands  in  freezing  and  lifts  the 
track.  What  is  the  most  lasting  cure  for  heaving  track? 
Perfect  drainage  and  good  ballast.  Where  perfect  drain- 
age is  not  possible  shims  must  be  used  until  conditions 
can  be  changed.  It  will  be  found  that  the  differences  in 
drainage  correspond  closely  with  the  uneven  spots  in 
heaved  track.  High  spots  will  be  found  near  bridge 
ends  because,  while  the  bridge  does  not  heave,  the  frost 
lifts  the  track  at  each  bridge  approach.  Uneven  spots 
are  found  also  at  cattle  guards,  at  grade  crossings,  over 
newly-placed  culverts  and  pipes,  and  over  steam  and 
other  conduits  which  are  warm  enough  to  dry  the  ground 
above  them.  Track  on  high  trestles  will  go  suddenly 
and  seriously  out  of  surface  from  the  heaving  of  the 
ground  under  a  bottom  sill-end  resting  on  the  ground. 
Too  much  care  cannot  be  taken  in  keeping  bridge  sills 
clear  of  the  earth,  and  in  arranging  all  bridge  and  culvert 
foundations  so  that  the  action  of  frcst  will  not  affect  them. 

To  place  shims  under  a  rail,  the  rail  must  first  be  raised 
by  drawing,  or  partly  drawing,  the  track  spike.  The 
shim  is  then  slipped  under  the  rail  and  fastened  with 
track  spike  or  crossing  spike,  according  to  its  dimensions 
and  style.  The  rail  is  then  respiked,  and  sometimes 
braced,  to  keep  it  from  spreading.  With  a  shim  under 
the  rail,  the  track  spikes  do  not  extend  so  far  into  the 

52 


SHIMS  AND  SHIMMING 


tie  as  without  the  shim.  The  rail  also  is  off  the  tie  and 
not  so  solidly  bedded  as  before.  It  is  easily  seen  that 
careful  work  is  needed  in  shimming  and  that  safety  must 
be  the  first  consideration.  If  only  thin  shims  are  needed, 
it  may  not  be  necessary  to  brace  the  rail  to  keep  it  from 
rolling,  spreading  or  turning  over.  But  tie  plugs  should 
be  driven  in  old  spike  holes  before  spikes  are  re-driven. 
Otherwise,  special  long  frost-spike  should  be  used. 

Quality  of  Shims. — It  must  be  remembered  that  the  rail 
probably  cannot  be  let  down  on  the  tie  after  it  is  shimmed 
until  the  frost  has  gone  entirely  out  of  the  ground  in  the 
spring.  The  shim  must  be  of  good  enough  wood  to  stand 
the  moving  and  chafing  of  the  rail  on  top,  and  against 
the  stationary  tieplate  or  tie,  under  it.  Often  it  is  neces- 
sary to  take  out  thin  shims  and  put  in  thicker  ones  in 
mid-winter,  because  a  spot  which  has  heaved  in  early 
winter  will  heave  higher  the  second  time,  when  more 
moisture  gets  into  the  ballast.  Track  often  heaves  out 
of  level,  one  rail  rising  higher  than  the  opposite  rail, 
which  condition  causes  passing  cars  to  swerve  from  side 
to  side  violently.  This  side  motion  is  particularly  hard 
on  shimmed  rails  which  are  in  danger  of  going  out  of 
gage  from  the  effects  of  these  frequent  blows  from  wheel 
flanges.  Again,  if  too  much  shimming  is  done  in  early 
winter,  there  is  danger  that  most  of  the  shims  must  be 
replaced  later  with  thicker  shims  again  and  again  .until 
by  spring  the  track  is  up  too  high  to  be  safe. 

Spike  Killing. — It  is  hard  to  avoid  spike-killing  the  ties 
when  shims  are  changed.  A  rail  on  a  curve  may  be 
spiked  to  one  end  of  a  tie  with  three  spikes.  A  thin  shim 
is  put  in  by  drawing  the  inside  spike  and  slipping  the 
shim  under  the  rail  base.  The  inside  spike  hole  is 
plugged  and  a  spike  driven  in  the  fourth  hole  beside  it. 

53 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


Later  in  winter,  a  thicker  shim  is  needed.  All  the  spikes 
are  drawn  and  the  holes  plugged.  The  three  spikes  are 
then  redriven  and  a  brace  is  placed  on  the  tie  outside  and 
with  one  end  against  the  web  of  the  rail.  This  brace  is 
spiked  to  the  tie  with  three  spikes,  two  near  the  rail 
seat  and  one  at  the  outer  end  of  the  brace.  There  have 
now  been  ten  spike  holes  made  in  the  tie  end.  Fre- 
quently a  third  shim  is  needed  before  spring.  This  shim 
is  a  piece  of  oak  plank  about  18  in.  long.  It  is  put  under 
the  rail  and  spiked  to  the  tie  with  four  crossing  spike. 
Then  the  track  spikes  are  redriven  through  the  shim  and 
the  tie.  These  are  especially  long  track  spike.  There 
are  now  17  holes  in  the  tie  end.  When  the  frost  begins 
to  go  out  in  the  spring,  the  18  in.  oak  shim  is  too  high. 
It  is  taken  out  and  replaced  by  a  thinner  shim,  and  three 
more  holes  are  made  in  the  tie  end.  When  this  shim  is 
removed  and  the  rail  finally  rests  on  the  tie  end,  there 
are  20  plugged  spike  holes  in  the  tie  end  in  addition  to 
the  three  holes  in  which  the  spikes  rest,  23  spike  holes 
in  all !  Yet  engineers  talk  of  mechanical  wear,  and  cal- 
culate the  percentages  of  ties  which  decay  in  track.  In 
many  instances,  these  spike  holes  are  not  all  plugged  and 
decay  starts  in  such  places  most  easily.  If  the  tie  is 
treated,  it  is  likely  to  be  more  quickly  spoiled  than  the 
untreated  tie,  and  at  a  greater  loss.  For  the  treated  tie 
is  probably  made  of  timber  not  good  enough  to  be  used 
untreated ;  and  the  untreated  fiber  of  the  untreated  tie, 
around  the  spike  holes,  will  resist  spike-killing  and  decay 
longer  than  the  untreated  fiber  of  the  treated  tie.  Track- 
men should  make  it  a  rule  never  to  allow  a  spike  to  be 
driven  in  a  tie  if  it  can  be  avoided.  The  idea  that  a 
spike  hole  with  a  tie  plug  in  it  is  as  good  as  no  hole  at 
all,  is  altogether  too  widespread  among  trackmen.- 

54 


SHIMS  AND  SHIMMING 


That  such  an  idea  is  wrong  is  not  hard  to  see.  When  a 
cut  spike  is  driven  in  a  tie  it  breaks  the  wood  on  each 
side  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  hole.  The  tie 
plug  never  exactly  fits  the  hole  and  it  never  mends  the 
break  in  the  wood  of  the  tie;  so  the  tie  never  is  as  good 
as  new.  These  spike  holes  go  almost  through  the  tie. 
It  takes  only  a  very  few  of  them  to  make  a  tie  break 
under  the  rail  bearing.  This  break  comes  gradually  and 
the  tie  often  rots  to  some  extent  while  breaking.  When 
removed  from  the  track,  it  is  often  said  to  be  on  account 
of  decay,  instead  of  wear  which  is  the  true  reason  of 
failure.  There  is  so  much  expense  connected  with  the 
use  of  shims  that  they  should  be  put  in  only  as  a  last 
resort  and  when  it  is  clearly  to  be  seen  that  the  traffic 
conditions  demand  them. 

Taking  Out  Shims. — In  high-speed  track,  heaved  rail  in 
frosty  weather  is  dangerous.  The  blows  struck  by  wheels 
moving  rapidly  over  rough  track  are  very  heavy,  and  the 
faster  the  speed,  the  heavier  the  blows.  Rail  breaks 
easily  in  winter  and  a  rail  bent  upward  by  frost  under 
the  track,  may  go  to  pieces  under  traffic  if  not  shimmed. 
A  large  percentage  of  rails  broken  in  northern  railway 
tracks  are  broken  during  the  spring  months  when  the 
frost  is  going  out,  and  the  spring  rains  soften  the  road- 
bed. Then  it  is  that  trackmen  must  work  as  quickly  as 
possible  to  change  shims  and  finally  to  get  them  all  out 
of  the  track  and  let  the  rails  settle  on  their  old  beds. 
Track  which  has  heaved  during  the  winter  usually  will 
settle  lower  than  its  original  level  when  the  frost  goes 
out  in  the  spring.  This  leaves  the  track  which  has  been 
shimmed,  too  high  even  after  the  shims  have  been  re- 
moved. Therefore,  the  heaved  parts  of  the  track  should 
be  put  in  surface  as  the  shims  are  taken  out.  Otherwise 

55 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


it  will  be  quite  uneven  until  these  frost  slacks  are  picked 
up. 

Shimming  Requires  Good  Judgment. — Shimming  is  so 
largely  a  matter  of  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  trackman 
that  it  is  not  possible  to  lay  down  any  hard  and  fast 
rules  to  fit  even  any  one  certain  set  of  conditions.  There 
is  no  work  required  of  a  trackman  where  good  judgment 
plays  a  larger  part  than  in  caring  for  track  in  winter. 
There  are  no  two  miles  of  track  which  "act"  exactly  the 
same.  Long  acquaintance  with  a  section  of  track  is  most 
necessary  to  the  trackman  who  would  get  the  best  re- 
sults in  a  winter  season.  Any  piece  of  track  will  suffer 
from  frequent  changes  of  officers  or  foremen.  But  if  a 
change  of  foremen  must  be  made,  unless  the  case  is  very 
urgent,  it  is  poor  business  to  make  the  change  in  winter. 
If  the  change  must  be  made  in  mid-season  it  is  preferable 
to  make  it  in  the  busy  summer  season,  rather  than  in 
winter,  with  track  on  shims.  Shimming  and  its  results 
are  so  directly  dependent  on  a  foreman  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  every  foot  of  the  track  by  long  residence 
and  large  experience  in  that  particular  territory,  and 
the  results  of  improper  shimming  are  so  dangerous,  that 
it  is  perhaps  not  out  of  place  to  sound  a  note  of  warning 
even  to  those  who  may  be  acquainted  with  the  particular 
details  above  mentioned. 

Points  to  Remember. — Remember  that  in  a  climate 
where  freezing  weather  occurs,  no  track  rides  quite  as 
well  in  winter  as  in  summer.  Frost  has  its  effect  on  the 
best  ballasted  track,  and  perfect  drainage  is  as  unattain- 
able as  any  other  worldly  perfection. 

Remember  that  the  greater  the  train  speed,  the  greater 
the  shock  of  any  inequality  in  track  surface. 

Remember  that  high-shimmed  track  is  more  or   less 

56 


SHIMS  AND  SHIMMING 


dangerous.  This  element  of  danger  exists,  no  matter 
how  well  the  shimming  is  done.  Braces  may  be  easily 
displaced  by  anything  dragging  outside  the  running  rail.  If 
shims  are  placed  crosswise  of  the  rail,  anything  dragging  be- 
tween the  rails  may  catch  and  displace  them-  In  snowy 
weather,  shims  and  braces  may  be  torn  out  and  their  ab- 
sence not  detected,  even  by  a  careful  track  walker. 

The  most  careful  trackman  is  excusable  for  not  seeing 
that  a  track  is  slightly  out  of  gage  when  he  can  see 
only  the  rail  heads  above  the  snow. 

Remember  that  track  in  winter  may  ride  badly  from 
other  causes  than  heaving.  With  hard  snow  or  ice  in 
the  springs  and  other  parts,  car  trucks  often  cause  a  car 
to  ride  almost  as  if  it  had  no  springs.  A  car  or  engine 
axle  that  is  loose  in  the  boxings  will  get  a  side  motion 
which  gives  the  impression  of  track  out  of  surface.  Such 
cars  and  engines  are  very  hard  on  line  and  gage  of  track, 
and  should  be  taken  to  the  shop  for  repairs  as  early  as 
possible. 

Remember  that  trackmen  usually  know  their  sections 
and  their  track  better  than  anyone  else.  If  the  foremen 
and  officers  of  the  track  department  agree  in  recommend- 
ing slow  orders,  it  is  safest  to  issue  the  orders  first  and 
investigate  later;  especially  if  the  orders  are  on  account 
of  heaved  track.  In  severe  winter  climates,  consider 
slower  train  speeds  for  winter  than  for  summer.  In 
making  a  slow  winter  schedule,  consider  limiting  the 
maximum  speed  over  each  mile  of  track  rather  than  the 
length  of  time  allowed  between  stops. 

Enginemen  should  report  rough  track  for  the  benefit 
of  trackmen. 

Roadmasters  should  ride  the  locomotives  in  winter.   • 

Orders  should  not  be  issued  to  shim  until  the  condi- 

57  . 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


tions  are  thoroughly  investigated.  Moderately  rough 
track  without  shims  in  winter  is  usually  safer  than  smooth 
track  on  high  shims.  The  places  where  shims  have  to  be 
used  should  be  paint-marked  and  plans  made  to  drain  the 
roadbed,  and  renew  the  ballast,  if  necessary,  in  order  to 
do  away  with  shims  in  after  years. 

Design    and    Manufacture    of    Shims. — Some    railway 
companies   buy   their   shims    from   contractors.      Others 


Fia.l. 
IS" Hare/wood  f?a//  Brace. 


80*/?a/'/  braced  on  a  /•£ 
Shim  slotted  for  6£*&8O*f?a/t. 


F''g.6. 
Mud  Sh/m  5"x/6~bored.        Btind/e  of  assorted  Hardwood  Shims. 

Fig.  5 — Shims  and  Braces. 

have  their  shims  made  in  their  own  shops.  Company- 
made  shims  are  usually  better  in  material,  if  not  in  work- 
manship. 

Shims    are    of    different    sizes    and   of    several    styles. 

58 


SHIMS  AND  SHIMMING 


Every  shim  should  be  long  enough  and  wide  enough  to 
give  the  rail  as  much  bearing  as  it  had  on  the  tie  on 
which  the  shim  is  set.  To  raise  the  rail  onto  a  shim 
which  is  smaller  than  the  space  occupied  by  the  rail 
across  the  tie,  is  to  multiply  danger  and  invite  disaster. 

It  is  important  to  keep  from  spike-killing  the  ties  in 
all  maintenance  work.  Shimming  is  very  hard  on  ties 
and  any  scheme  which  will  lessen  the  number  of  spike 
holes  is  a  money-saver  for  the  company. 

The  best  shim  is  as  wide  as  the  rail  base  and  as  long 
as  the  width  of  face  of  the  tie  it  rests  on.  It  is  less 
likely  to  be  displaced  than  other  styles..  It  is  more 
easily  and  quickly  placed.  There  are  no  holes  bored  in 
it  and  no  danger  of  splitting  it  with  spike.  The  tie  needs 
no  adzing.  Fewer  spike  holes  are  made  in  the  tie  than 
with  other  shims.  Good,  clear  machine-made  shims  of 
this  kind,  of  red  oak,  elm,  maple  or  beech  should  wear 
for  two  winters.  They  should  be  seasoned  in  the  bundle 
to  prevent  warping.  They  are  usually  made  into  bundles 
of  75  to  120  pieces,  pressed  together  and  fastened  with 
four  small  strips  of  hardwood  which  are  nailed  to  the 
end  shims  as  shown  in  Figure  5. 

Methods  of  Shimming. — To  prevent  these  shims  from 
working  out  lengthwise  of  the  track,  off  the  tie  and  into 
the  spaces  between  ties,  a  small  wire  nail  may  be  toe- 
nailed  into  the  tie  through  the  edge  of  the  shim  after 
placing.  Slotted  shims  need  not  be  toe-nailed  for  the 
slots  fit  around  the  spike  and  hold  the  shims  securely  in 
place.  Shims  are  set  on  top  of  the  tie  plates.  When 
they  are  under  the  outside  rails  of  curves,  the  outside 
spike  are  braced  by  nailing  blocks  of  wood  flat  on  the 
tie  outside  the  rail  with  a  notched  edge  snug  against  the 
rail  base  and  around  the  exposed  neck  of  the  spike.  These 

59 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


brace  blocks  are  often  held  against  the  rail  by  means 
of  two  second-hand  track  spike  driven  in  the  tie  back 
of  the  blocks,  with  heads  hooking  over  the  block.  Thin 
shims  are  placed  by  starting  the  spike  only  just  enough 
to  slip  the  shim  under  the  rail. 

To  shim  a  sag  between  heaved  spots  or  to  shim  a  run-off 
from  one  heaved  spot,  start  the  spike  all  along  just 
enough  to  slip  in  the  middle  shim,  and  bring  the  rail  to 
proper  surface,  if  necessary,  by  tapping  the  spike  in  the 
ties  each  side  of  the  middle  shim.  When  the  rail  has 
thus  been  put  in  good  surface,  select  shims  for  the  in- 
termediate ties  just  thick  enough  to  go  under  the  rail 
without  bulging  it  up,  drive  them  all  home  and  tap  down 
all  the  spike  solidly. 

Wide  Shims. — A  decided  economy  in  the  use  of  a  shim 
of  the  same  width  as  the  rail  base  is  in  the  fewer  num- 
ber of  spike  holes  necessary.  Unless  a  brace  is  needed, 
the  shim  of  the  same  width  as  the  rail  base  will  go  into 
place  without  seriously  disturbing  the  two  or  three  spike 
already  in  the  tie.  Shims  11  to  12  in.  long  are 
sometimes  used  in  all  thicknesses.  They  are  provided 
with  y2  in.  round  holes  gaged  to  fit  the  rail  base  the 
same  as  are  the  tie  plates,  so  that  the  spike  that  holds 
the  rail  also  holds  the  shim.  This  shim  is  placed  length- 
wise of  the  tie.  Machine-made  shims  that  are  slotted 
for  the  track  spike  are  cut  with  veneer  knives  and  ma- 
chine-slotted. They  are  more  expensive  than  the  un- 
slotted  kinds.  (See  Figure  5.)  These  shims  may  be 
slotted  for  two  to  four  track  spike.  Shims  are  also  cut 
with  shingle  knives  or  sawed  with  machine  saws.  If 
shims  are  bought  from  contractors  specifications  should 
be  thorough.  Inspections  are  best  made  at  the  factory 
so  that  rejected  stock  need  not  be  loaded. 

60 


SHIMS  AND  SHIMMING 


Bad  Practice. — Leaving  shims  cornerwise  under  the 
rail  should  not  be  allowed,  because  not  enough  bearing 
is  provided  for  the  rail.  Hard  snow  will  get  between  the 
tie  and  rail  at  the  edge  of  the  shim,  and  freezing  there, 
may  cause  the  shim  to  slip.  Shims  are  usually  bought 
in  carload  lots  and  it  pays  to  have  them  inspected  at  the 
saw  before  they  are  put  in  the  bundle.  The  thicknesses 
of  shims  should  be  specified.  Assorted  sizes  in  each 
bundle  are  most  suitable.  Section  foremen  on  a  division 
should  be  instructed  to  keep  count  of  the  number  of 
shims  of  each  thickness  used  during  a  winter  so  that 
the  most  useful  selection  for  a  bundle  can  be  made. 

It  is  important  to  have  a  winter  stock  on  hand  at  the 
car  houses  in  the  late  fall.  Shims  in  the  storehouse  or 
on  the  road,  are  of  no  use  to  a  trackman.  When  he  needs 
them,  he  needs  them  right  on  the  job  where  he  can  break 
a  bundle  any  hour  of  the  day. 

Supervision  by  Roadmaster. — There  is  no  track  work 
which  should  receive  more  careful  supervision  from  a 
roadmaster  than  track  shimming.  Some  foremen  have 
the  fault  of  over-shimming.  It  is  harder  to  break  a  man 
of  over-shimming  than  of  lifting  out  track  unnecessarily, 
for  it  is  easier  to  shim  than  to  lift  it  on  ballast.  Both 
faults  are  inexcusable.  Other  foremen  are  so  careful 
to  make  the  shimming  safe  that  they  destroy  many  ties 
by  driving  too  many  spike  to  hold  both  braces  and  shims. 
Most  foremen  are  slow  in  getting  all  shims  out  in  spring 
after  the  frost  is  all  gone,  for  they  are  then  crowded  with 
the  work  of  picking  up  slacks  in  track  and  often  have 
too  few  men  to  make  rapid  progress.  Some  men  will 
even  have  shims  in  track  until  they  surface  through  in 
summer.  This  "surfacing  through"  is  made  a  too  fre- 
quent excuse  for  putting  off  this  and  that  which  should 

61 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


be  done,  on  track.  It  is  best  to  teach  men  to  forget  the 
term  "surfacing  through."  Each  job  on  a  track  section 
should  be  given  its  proper  attention  at  the  right  time. 
One  of  the  first  things  to  do  in  spring  is  to  remove  shims 
and  pick  up  frost  slacks,  and  it  should  be  attended  to  in 
advance  of  the  spring  cleaning  if  weather  conditions  per- 
mit. 

The  science  of  shimming,  (always  given  proper  tools 
and  shims)  is  to  shim  as  little  as  possible,  as  much  as  is 
absolutely  necessary,  starting  as  late  as  allowable  in 
winter,  using  as  few  spike  as  safety  permits  and  taking 
care  to  mark  shimmed  track  for  future  drainage. 

The  gage  of  shimmed  track  should  be  closely  watched 
at  all  times,  and  the  way  to  watch  it  is  to  put  the  track 
gage  on  it  as  often  as  seems  to  be  necessary. 


CHAPTER  V. 
WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES. 

From  various  sources  are  heard  expressions  from  time  to 
time  to  the  effect  that  the  railways  of  America  are  not 
economically  maintained.  It  is  noteworthy  that  these 
criticisms  come  usually  from  men  who  know  the  least 
about  the  real  work  of  keeping  tracks  in  good  order. 
There  is  no  one  to  whom  a  business  seems  so  easy  and 
so  simple  as  to  the  man  who  has  never  tried  it  and 
who  knows  nothing  at  all  about  it. 

Anyone  watching  a  game  which  he  does  not  under- 
stand, always  thinks  it  dull  and  easy  to  play.  There 
are  also  critics  of  railway  maintenance  who  have  some 
insight  into  how  it  should  be  done.  They  have  studied 
the  job,  and  they  have  seen  it  done, — but  have  never 
really  tried  it  themselves.  They  are  supposed  to  be 
experts.  An  expert  has  been  said  to  be  a  man  who 
makes  a  living  by  telling  other  men  how  to  do  things 
that  he  cannot  do  himself.  There  are  many  such  ex- 
perts in  and  out  of  the  railway  business, 

A  certain  legislator  once  violently  opposed  an  appro- 
priation which  was  asked  for  a  government  railway  be- 
cause a  part  of  the  money  asked  for  was  to  be  spent 
to  pay  more  wages  to  trackmen.  In  his  speech  against 
the  bill,  he  raised  the  question  of  the  need  of  track  gangs 
on  government  railways.  "I  travel  up  and  down  this 
railway  at  least  six  times  a  year,"  he  said.  "I  always 
see  these  gangs,  sometimes  few  and  sometimes  many 
men  in  a  gang.  What  are  they  doing,  I  ask  you?  You 
all  ride  over  these  tracks.  You  all  see  these  men  we 

63 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


are  asked  to  vote  money  to  pay.  Do  they  work?  No, 
sir,  they  do  not  work !  I  have  watched  them  many 
times.  I  have  seen,  and  so  you  will  see,  fellow  legis- 
lators, if  you  will  but  look  from  a  side  window  of  the 
car  you  sit  in,  as  the  train  passes,  these  idle  government 
employes,  leaning  on  their  shovels  or  sitting  along  the 
track,  just  waiting,  never  working!  I  am  against  vot- 
ing more  money  to  pay  idle  men  for  watching  trains 
go  by." 

If  this  legislator  had  looked  from  the  end  instead  of 
the  side  window  of  the  car  he  might  have  seen  the  work- 
men start  in  after  his  train  had  passed. 

But  all  criticism  is  by  no  means  so  thoughtless  as 
this,  nor  so  far  fetched  as  some  expert  advice  offered 
to  practical  trackmen.  A  man  does  not  always  have  to 
have  experience  to  see  the  weak  spots  in  a  way  of  doing 
any  certain  work.  There  are  some  rules  which  are  as 
good  for  the  butcher  as  for  the  baker.  There  are  some 
ways  of  handling  work  which  are  as  good  for  a  rail- 
way company  as  for  an  army  or  a  factory  or  a  farm. 
All  these  institutions  hire  labor.  All  must  have  disci- 
pline. All  must  have  bosses  and  laborers. 

Man  lives  by  comparison.  One  man  earns  one  dollar 
in  one  day.  If  every  man  earned  a  dollar  a  day,  there 
would  be  no  very  rich  men.  But  other  men  earn  more. 
They  compare  their  earnings  with  the  earnings  of  their 
neighbors.  They  hunt  better  ways  of  doing  things,  they 
try  to  get  better  results.  They  measure  their  lives  by 
the  lives  of  others.  They  say,  'T  do  as  much  in  one 
day  as  my  neighbor  does  in  two.  Therefore  I  make 
twice  as  much  and  I  am  worth  two  such  men."  When 
a  man  has  many  men  working  for  him,  he  tries  to  find 
out  how  much  he  can  get  done  by  each  man.  He  must 

64 


WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

study  the  work  they  do  and  the  way  they  do  it,  to  find 
out  if  he  can  lessen  the  work  by  doing  it  some  easier 
way  so  as  to  get  more  done  in  a  day.  He  must  com- 
pare men  and  methods  and  results.  All  work  in  life 
is  comparative. 

Now,  the  trouble  with  track  work,  which  is  pointed 
out  by  critics,  is  that  we  do  not  so  compare  it.  It  is 
said  that  the  maintenance  forces  of  railways  are  the 
poorest  workmen  hired,  because  their  work  is  not  com- 
pared with  that  of  their  fellow  workmen,  who  perform 
the  same  duties,  to  find  out  who  is  doing  it  in  the  best 
way.  There  is  no  standard  of  work.  Instead  of  find- 
ing out  just  how  to  stand,  and  how  few  motions  are 
needed  to  drive  a  spike  home,  and  in  how  short  a  time 
it  can  be  done,  we  just  keep  going  along,  driving  spike 
"by  the  day,"  without  comparing  the  methods  or  re- 
sults with  anyone's  else  spike  driving  to  find  out  whose 
work  counts  for  most  in  a  day.  It  is  said  that  no  man 
would  run  his  own  business  as  a  railway  company  main- 
tains its  tracks.  The  farmer  gets  more  work  out  of  his 
hired  men.  The  factory  owner  keeps  better  informed 
about  the  factory  workers.  The  general  has  his  army  bet- 
ter drilled.  There  is  surely  something  in  these  criticisms, 
and  criticism  is  good  for  any  man  or  for  any  class  of 
men. 

Experienced  Men  Required. — In  order  to  compare  one 
trackman's  work  with  another's,  there  must  be  stand- 
ards for  comparison.  If  two  men  are  given  the  same 
kind  of  work  for  ten  hours,  it  is  possible  to  find  out 
which  man  has  done  more  or  better  work.  If  one  gang 
of  men  works  over  five  .miles  of  main  track  for  a  year, 
and  over  fifty  switches  for  another  year,  and  works  just 
as  hard  and  just  as  many  hours  on  each  job,  it  is  fair 

65 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


to  suppose  that  the  two  jobs  are  equal,  or  that  the  main- 
tenance of  fifty  switches  equals  the  maintenance  of  five 
miles  of  main  track;  or  that  ten  switches  equal  one 
mile  of  main  track.  But  it  takes  a  whole  year  to  find 
this  out  because  track  work  differs  every  month  in  the 
year.  To  learn  to  do  all  this  work,  a  trackman  should 
be  hired  the  year  round,  if  he  is  to  be  a  good  trackman. 
A  laborer  is  not  a  trackman  until  he  has  worked  at  the 
trade  for  twelve  months  running  because  weather  con- 
ditions make  his  work  different  each  month.  One  does 
not  need  to  be  a  trackman  to  understand  that  experi- 
enced men  are  better  than  green  hands.  Then  why  not 
hire  trackmen  the  year  round,  making  them  permanent 
employees?  There  is  a  difference  in  men.  They  may 
be  strong  or  weak,  healthy  or  ill,  handy  with  tools  or 
clumsy,  stupid  or  quick  to  learn,  good  tempered  or  bad 
tempered.  It  is  fair  to  suppose  that  the  best  results 
are  obtainable  with  good  men  who  are  satisfied  to  stay 
the  year  round. 

Permanent  Employment. — There  are  several  reasons 
why  trackmen  have  not  been  kept  the  year  round.  Most 
of  the  track  work  has  been  done  in  summer.  Expenses 
are  cut  down  in  winter  by  reducing  forces.  Money  is 
not  easily  gettable  till  after  the  end  of  the  financial  year  in 
June.  In  the  north,  the  winter  days  are  short,  the 
weather  is  bad,  the  tracks  are  covered  with'  snow,  and 
men  cannot  work  well  when  wrapped  in  heavy  clothing. 
Tracks  must  be  swept  clear  of  snow ;  it  is  hard  to 
run  hand  or  push  cars,  and  tools  are  easily  lost  in 
snow.  The  men  who  fill  the  extra  gangs  in  summer  go 
to  their  foreign  homes  in  winter  or  get  other  work  in 
the  cities.  They  have  no  permanent  interest  in  the  work 
they  do  nor  the  sections  they  work  on  nor  the  railway 

66 


WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

companies  who  hire  them.  Their  only  object  in  work- 
ing at  all  is  to  get  in  a  day's  time  for  a  day's  pay,  be- 
cause they  cannot  hope  for  a  steady  job  at  railway  main- 
tenance. But  logging  operations  in  these  same  climates 
are  carried  on  very  largely  in  winter.  Men  who  work  on 
the  railway  in  summer  often  work  at  logging  in  winter. 
There  seems  to  be  no  difficulty  in  felling  and  hauling 
timber,  making  ties  and  posts  and  banking  logs  in  the 
snow.  Being  obliged  to  cut  timber  in  winter,  when  the 
sap  is  down  and  when  icy  roads  and  frozen  swamps 
permit  of  hauling  big  loads  to  the  streams  or  railways, 
a  way  has  been  found  by  logging  concerns  to  make  win- 
ter work  practicable  in  the  lumber  industry,  and  of  late 
years  a  way  is  being  found  to  do  a  good  deal  of  winter 
work  in  railway  maintenance  for  the  following  reasons : 
Labor  is  often  more  plentiful  and  cheaper  in  winter 
than  in  summer.  In  a  limited  labor  market  this  ad- 
vantage in  winter  work  is  very  marked.  Some  main- 
tenance work  is  more  easily  done  in  winter  than  in  sum- 
mer. It  is  less  dangerous  to  burn  old  ties.  It  is  the 
best  time  to  clear  fence  rows  of  brush  and  trees.  It  is 
the  best  time  to  repair  fence  wires  and  to  mow  weeds 
in  swamps.  Many  swamps  can  only  be  fenced  in  win- 
ter. It  is  best  to  have  permanent  maintenance  forces. 
If  there  is  not  too  much  snow,  winter  is  the  best  time 
to  relay  rails.  There  has  been  much  discussion  on  this 
last  point.  Those  who  have  tried  it  have  lost  the  fear 
of  "something  new."  They  know  that  the  moving  of 
joint  ties  is  expensive.  They  know  it  results  in  dis- 
turbing ballast  and  thus  making  bad  track  at  the  rail 
joints,  the  weakest  spots  in  track.  When  track  is 
laid  in  winter  without  moving  joint  ties,  as  it  must 
be,  the  rails  may  be  fitted  with  anticreepers  as  it 

67 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


is  laid.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  chief  difficulty 
with  rail  anchors  is  on  account  of  contact  with  frozen 
ballast,  and  this  can  best  be  avoided  by  putting  the 
anchors  in  place  when  the  rail  is  laid.  If  the  ballast  is 
trimmed  to  a  surface  easily  drained  it  will  be  at  least 
an  inch  below  the  bottom  of  the  rail.  The  lug  of  the 
rail  anchor,  which  is  pressed  against  the  tie  to  resist 
creeping,  is  about  two  inches  deep.  It  should  not  ex- 
tend lower  than  that.  When  the  anchor  is  put  on,  the 
ballast  must  not  be  tamped  about  it.  The  best  way  is 
to  scoop  the  ballast  clear  of  the  anchor  entirely  or  to 
refill  the  depression  by  throwing  the  ballast  loosely 
about  the  anchor.  The  reason  for  needing,  say  two 
extra  anchors  per  rail  when  not  moving  joint  ties  is  that 
the  joints  are  not  always  suspended  between  two  ties  and 
the  spike  slots  in  the  angle  bars  therefore  may  come  over 
the  ballast  between  the  ties,  and  spike  cannot  be  driven  in 
these  slots  to  hold  the  track  from  creeping.  But  all 
these  joints  do  not  come  in  the  wrong  places.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  from  40  to  60  per  cent  of  the  new  joints 
will  come  in  such  position  that  the  slots  can  be  used,  as 
before.  If  the  rail  anchors  are  properly  put  on,  no 
more  than  two  or  three  extra  anchors  per  rail  length 
will  be  needed  in  well-ballasted  track  because  of  not 
moving  joint  ties.  The  track  will  be  on  evenly  solid 
ballast  throughout  the  rail  length,  and  a  better  riding 
track  results  than  when  moving  joint  ties.  Money  also 
is  saved  by  not  moving  the  ties,  which  costs  nearly  as 
much  as  relaying  the  rail. 

Experience  is  proving  that  relaying  rails  in  winter  is 
not  only  possible,  but  desirable  from  many  points  of 
view.  Ballast  cannot  be  disturbed  and  all  ties  are  there- 
fore left  in  their  original  beds.  Not  only  is  the  extra 

68 


WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

maintenance  due  to  disturbing  the  ballast  avoided,  but 
the  tie  lasts  longer  when  it  is  not  moved,  and  it  does 
not  get  blows  from  mauls  which  it  gets  when  shifted  to 
come  under  new  joints. 

The  gaging  of  track  is  a  job  that  can  be  done  to  the 
best  advantage  in  winter. 

It  seems  that  railway  companies  have  followed  a  cus- 
tom in  summer  work.  They  have  got  used  to  the  sum- 
mer extra  gang,  the  bunk  and  boarding  cars,  the  rush 
of  poorly-done  summer  work.  It  remains  for  the  track- 
man to  change  this  custom,  to  prove  that  the  present 
order  of  doing  this  work  is  not  the  best,  and  to  show 
what  improvements  will  do  for  maintenance  of  way. 
In  the  north  there  probably  will  always  be  more  work 
done  in  summer  than  in  winter.  But  the  winter  track 
force  will  in  all  probability  be  increased  within  the  next 
few  years  on  most  roads.  A  good  deal  of  the  work 
now  done  in  summer  can  be  done  in  winter  to  better 
advantage.  If  it  is  done  by  the  permanent  employes, 
it  will  be  better  done  than  if  by  extra  gangs.  The  extra 
gang  is  not  acquainted  with  the  roadbed  or  track  or 
traffic.  The  extra  gang  foreman  must  make  a  showing 
of  speed  if  he  is  to  hold  his  position.  There  is  no  com- 
parison between  extra  gangs ,  except  in  the  amount  of 
work  done.  The  extra  gang  foreman  has  usually  more 
men  than  he  can  watch  and  teach,  and  keep  doing  as 
much  and  as  well  as  they  should.  The  section  gang 
has  all  the  advantage  of  more  supervision  per  man,  of 
knowing  the  track,  the  climate,  the  traffic,  the  weak 
spots  in  the  ballast,  and  the  soft  spots  in  the  roadbed. 
They  need  little  telling  about  what  to  do  or  how  to  do 
it,  if  they  are  permanent  employes.  It  seems  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  such  section  gangs  might  do  much 

69 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


of  the  work  now  so  poorly  done  by  extra  gangs.  The 
slower  speed  of  the  permanent  gangs  would  be  more 
than  made  up  in  the  quality  of  work  done. 

Piece  Work. — Piece  work  is  done  in  many  factories 
and  in  railway  shops.  There  seems  no  reason  why  all 
railway  companies  should  not  do  a  great  deal  of  main- 
tenance on  the  piece  work  plan.  Some  are  doing  so 
now.  Putting  in  ties  by  piece  work  has  increased  the 
number  of  ties  placed  by  one  man  in  a  day  by  about 
one-third,  on  some  roads,  and  the  men's  pay  has  been 
increased  accordingly.  Gaging  track,  building  fence, 
and  most  other  maintenance  work  can  be  done  on  the 
piece  work  plan.  There  is  no  reason  why  a  good 
trackman  should  get  the  same  wages  as  a  poor  track- 
man. If  he  worked  by  the  piece  he  would  get  just  what 
was  due  him.  There  would  be  a  proper  basis  of  com- 
parison and  the  money  spent  for  track  work  would  be 
better  spent  and  bring  better  results.  Winter  track 
forces  could  do  nearly  all  their  work  on  this  basis  and 
they  could  do  a  great  deal  of  the  work  which  is  now 
done  in  summer  on  most  roads. 

With  better  men  and  better  methods  there  would  be 
better  results.  This  is  not  theory  only.  These  things 
are  being  done  and  are  showing  increasingly  better  re- 
sults in  comparison  with  the  old  ways,  where  there  is 
no  possibility  of  other  comparison. 

Good  Tools. — Good  work  cannot  be  done  without 
good  tools.  Good  tools  cannot  be  bought  as  cheaply  as 
poor  tools.  Even  good  tools,  unless  they  be  kept  in 
good  repair  and  condition,  are  not  fit  to  work  with,  nor 
can  good  results  be  obtained.  A  good  workman  will 
not  be  satisfied  to  work  with .  poor  tools.  Not  infre- 
quently trackmen  buy  tools  of  their  own  rather  than 

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WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

get  along  with  poor  tools  furnished  by  the  railway  com- 
pany. This  spirit  has  led  many  track  foremen  to  buy 
motor  inspection  and  section  cars,  and  gasoline  engines. 
Saws,  scythes  and  hammers  are  often  bought  by  sec- 
tion foremen  for  railway  use.  To  a  workman  who  knows 
his  tools  and  how  to  sharpen  them,  there  is  no  more  val- 
uable help  than  a  good  grindstone,  with  the  necessary 
attachments  to  keep  all  kinds  of  track  tools,  sharp. 

Winter  Tools  and  Materials. — Every  section  should 
go  into  the  winter  with  a  full  stock  of  shims,  braces 
and  spike  to  last  through  the  season.  Salt  is  important 
especially  about  switches  and  crossings.  Adzes  and 
hand  axes  are  needed  and  should  be  sharpened  frequent- 
ly. Claw  bars,  spike  pullers,  spike  mauls  and  track 
wrenches  are  all  important  in  the  winter  day's  work,  as 
are  the  shovel,  pick,  snow  shovel,  ice  scraper  and  nearly 
all  the  tools  used  in  summer. 

Winter  Work. — On  many  roads,  the  tightening  of 
track  bolts  is  a  summer  job.  It  is  quite  as  important 
in  winter  and  should  be  attended  to  much  oftener  than 
is  the  practice  generally,  both  winter  and  summer. 
The  oiling  of  track  bolts  will  help  in  the  life  of  the  bolts 
and  in  the  ease  with  which  they  can  be  tightened.  There 
is  no  excuse  for  loose  track  bolts.  They  get  loose  only 
through  inattention.  Unfortunately  we  in  America 
have  become  used  to  this  carelessness.  Our  tracks  are 
so  badly  abused  by  overloading,  and  our  track  forces  so 
cut  down  for  "economy"  that  we  do  the  best  we  can  with 
what  we  have  and  let  it  go  at  that.  The  results  are  pain- 
ful to  see  and  not  always  safe.  Who  has  not  seen  track 
spread  because  no  spikes  were  to  be  had;  or  rails  turn 
over  which  were  not  drilled  because  no  drill  was  avail- 
able; or  track  too  rough  for  speed  because  no  shims 

71 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


were  on  hand ;  or  high  snow  drifts  on  rails  because  snow 
fence  could  not  be  had?  These  conditions  would  al- 
most surely  improve  with  the  employment  of  more 
trackmen  in  winter,  with  the  element  of  permanent  work, 
of  comparative  results  and  the  introduction  of  piece  and 
contract  work. 

Grading  Wages. — The  work  of  trackmen  may  be  im- 
proved by  the  proper  grading  of  wages.  There  is  always 
a  best  man  in  every  gang.  Why  should  he  work  for 
the  same  wage  as  the  poorer  workmen?  WThat  encour- 
agement has  he  to  do  all  he  can  do,  if  the  others  get  as 
much  money  for  doing  less?  The  chances  are  that  he 
not  only  will  not  do  all  he  can,  but  that  he  will  quit 
and  go  to  some  other  job  which  offers  better  induce- 
ments. For  this  one  reason  the  track  foreman  loses  most 
of  the  best  men  hired.  One  of  the  great  needs  of  the 
maintenance  department  is  the  grading  of  wages,  so 
that  the  men  have  some  reward  ahead  for  doing  better 
work  than  their  fellow  workmen.  There  is  generally  a 
scarcity  of  track  foremen.  The  grading  of  wages  will 
go  a  long  way  toward  solving  this  problem.  If  the  best 
man  in  each  section  gang  is  paid  a  little  more  than  the 
other  men,  he  will  try  to  learn  the  business,  knowing 
that  from  the  best  men  or  subforemen,  vacancies  for  the 
position  of  section  foreman  will  most  likely  be  filled. 

Getting  Over  Tracks  in  Winter. — Track  inspection 
and  the  taking  of  men  and  tools  to  and  from  the  places 
where  track  work  is  to  be  done  takes  time  and  labor, 
necessary  to  be  sure,  but  from  which  there  is  no  direct 
return.  When  the  number  of  laborers  is  large  enough, 
and  the  work  is  such  as  to  demand  road  train  service,  the 
problem  seems  simple.  The  men  with  their  tools  are 
put  on  the  train  at  the  appointed  place  and  put  off  when 

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WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

the  road  train  reaches  the  place  where  the  track  work 
is  to  be  done.  This  would  be  easy  enough  if  locomq- 
tives  and  cars  and  enginemen  and  trainmen  were  always 
ready,  and  if  there  were  no  other  trains  on  the  road  so 
that  orders  to  go  were  always  on  hand.  Every  track- 
man is  familiar  with  these  difficulties.  In  winter  they 
are  increased,  as  extra  power  is  needed,  crews  may  not 
be  prompt,  engines  come  out  of  the  house  slowly,  tracks 
may  be  obstructed  with  snow,  and  coal  and  water  are 
not  so  readily  obtained  as  in  summer.  In  winter  the 
trackmen  must  have  heated  cars  to  ride  in,  and  tools 
need  some  extra  care. 

But  the  hand  and  gasoline  cars  which  are  run  by  their 
own  power  have  the  most  trouble  in  winter.  The  man- 
propelled  hand  car,  formerly  the  only  car  used  for  track 
work,  is  still  largely  used  on  maintenance  and  construc- 
tion. Though  it  is  hard  and  slow  work  to  pump  these 
cars  over  the  track  under  the  best  of  conditions  in  sum- 
mer, they  can  be  quickly  taken  off  the  rails ;  and  as  they 
are  not  run  on  train  orders,  many  of  the  delays  which 
effect  road  train  travel  are  avoided  by  the  use  of  hand 
cars.  On  the  other  hand,  when  cars  obstruct  the  track, 
hand  cars  must  wait  or  be  carried  around  the  cars, 
whereas  a  road  train  can  often  proceed  after  switching 
the  obstructing  cars.  It  is  possible  to  get  a  hand  car 
over  a  string  of  empty  flats  by  placing  a  pair  of  rails 
or  other  skids  with  one  end  on  the  running  rails  and 
the  other  end  on  top  of  the  cars  in  order  to  push  the 
hand  car  up  onto  the  first  flat  car  and  down  off  the  last 
flat  car.  It  is  sometimes  possible  also  to  pinch  a  string 
of  cars  past  the  hand  car  after  lifting  the  latter  off  the 
track.  This  is  usually  not  advisable  on  account  of  the 
danger  of  not  being  able  to  stop  the  cars  after  they  get 

73 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


going;  on  account  of  the  time  and  labor  it  takes  and 
because  the  freight  cars  may  be  spotted  by  direction  of 
shippers. 

There  is  danger  in  running  hand  cars  and  all  track- 
men are  familiar  with  the  precautions  necessary  to  keep 
out  of  the  way  of  trains,  especially  on  sharp  curves 
where  the  view  is  obstructed,  in  windy  and  foggy  and 
snowy  weather  and  at  dusk  or  after  nightfall.  Careful 
flagging  and  the  display  of  lights  and  signals  is  most 
necessary.  Trackmen  soon  learn  the  importance  of 
keeping  a  continuous  lookout  to  the  rear  as  well  as  ahead 
of  a  hand  car  when  on  main  tracks.  The  rule  that  a 
hand  car  must  be  removed  from  the  rails  when  not  in 
use  should  be  strictly  obeyed  if  trouble  would  be  avoided. 
If  a  hand  car  with  men  and  tools  makes  eight  miles  an 
hour  over  track  including  stops,  a  round  trip  of  four 
miles  and  back  will  take  an  hour  or  one-tenth  of  the 
time  of  a  gang  working  a  ten  hour  day.  Therefore, 
any  scheme  which  will  reduce  the  time  so  lost  is  money 
and  labor  saved,  in  which  both  the  company  and  em- 
ployes are  directly  interested.  The  motor  hand  car 
has  been  introduced  for  this  purpose,  and  is  coming  into 
quite  general  use. 

In  winter  the  troubles  of  running  hand  and  motor 
cars  are  multiplied.  Car  wheels  slip  on  frosty  or  snowy 
rails  so  that  it  is  very  hard  to  start  a  car  or  to  keep 
going.  Running  behind  trains  assures  a  clean  rail  for  a 
short  time  only.  To  make  fair  headway  in  snowy 
weather  hand  cars  must  be  supplied  with  something  to 
sweep  or  scrape  the  rail  clear  of  snow  ahead  of  the 
wheels.  Iron  castings  that  may  be  screwed  to  the  for- 
ward ends  of  the  frame  of  the  car  over  the  track  rails 
and  have  sockets  and  set-screws  to  hold  broom  handles 

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WINTER  TRACK  FORCE.  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

are  used.  The  broom  is  a  short,  worn  corn  broom  with 
the  handle  sawed  oT  making  it  about  18  in.  long.  When 
the  car  is  taken  off  the  track  these  brooms  drag  along 
the  ground  unless  they  are  raised,  which  takes  time. 
An  improved  brcom  holder  is  fitted  with  a  bolt,  spring 
and  hinge  device  so  that  the  brooms  may  be  turned  and 
held  in  a  horizontal  position  with  the  broom  end  point- 


Fig.  6— Hand  Car  Broom  Holder. 

ing  frontwards,  so  that  the  car  may  be  taken  off  the 
track  without  raising  the  brooms.  This  broom  holder 
is  very  handy,  costs  little  and  weighs  only  5  pounds. 
See  Figure  6. 

A  steel  brush  similarly  fastened  to  sweep  the  rail 
ahead  of  the  wheels,  with  a  lever  to  operate  it,  is  used 
on  hand  or  motor  cars  and  is  valuable  not  only  for  snow, 

75 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


but    for  brushing   stones   or   other   obstructions    from   the 
rail.     (Figure    Railway   Age    Gazette,   p.    310,    Vol.    52, 

No.  7.) 

Use  of  Sleds. — On  northern  railways,  sleds  are  used 
on  sections  where  hand  cars  cannot  be  used  in  winter  on 
account  of  heavy  grades  and  sharp  curves.  Tools  and 
shims  are  carried  by  the  section  men  who  walk,  snow- 
shoe  or  ski  to  the  place  where  their  work  is  to  be  done, 
pulling  the  loaded  sled  by  hand. 

Operation  of  Motor  Cars  in  Cold  Weather. — Any 
gasoline  engine  is  harder  to  start  when  it  is  cold  than 


Fig.  7 — Steel  Brush  Attachment  for  Motor  Cars. 

when  it  is  warm.  This  is  because  gasoline  does  not 
vaporize  easily  when  it  is  cold,  and  the  vapor  is  easily 
recondensed  by  cold  to  liquid  gasoline.  Liquid  gasoline 
will  not  burn ;  it  must  first  be  vaporized.  When  an  en- 
gine is  started  in  cold  weather,  therefore,  there  is  only 
a  small  charge  of  gasoline  vapor  in  the  cylinder  when  the 
spark  is  flashed  across  the  points  of  the  spark  plug,  and 
a  large  part  of  what  little  vapor  the  carburetor  does 
supply  is  recondensed  against  the  cold  walls  of  the  in- 
take pipe,  cylinder  and  piston.  If  a  few  charges  can  be 

76 


WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

secured  which  are  large  enough  and  rich  enough  to  be 
fired  and  start  the  engine,  the  cylinders  will  usually  get 
warmed  and  the  engine  will  then  take  care  of  itself  and 
run  as  usual.  It  is  therefore  advisable  in  cold  weather 
to  do  something  to  produce  the  first  half-dozen  explo- 
sions, which  is  not  necessary  in  summer. 

In  the  first  place,  heat  the  carburetor  itself.  This  is 
safely  done  by  pouring  warm  water  over  it  or  by  wrap- 
ping a  bag  of  warm  salt  or  sand  around  it  for  a  few 
moments.  Do  not  use  a  torch  or  live  coals  as  there  is 
danger  of  an  explosion.  After  the  carburetor  has  been 
warmed,  a  half  thimble  full  of  gasoline  should  be  in- 
jected into  each  cylinder  through  the  priming  cup,  and 
the  cup  should  be  closed.  This  is  called  "priming  the 
engine."  The  carburetor  should  then  be  "flushed"  or 
"flooded"  with  the  little  plunger.  If,  now,  the  crank 
shaft  is  turned  over,  the  engine  will  seldom  fail  to  start. 
Of  course,  do  not  forget  to  have  the  gasoline  turned  on, 
the  switches  closed,  and  the  throttle  open. 

In  winter,  especially,  get  good  gasoline  if  possible,  as 
the  higher  the  grade  the  more  easily  the  gasoline 
vaporizes.  It  is  also  a  fact  that  the  higher  the  grade  the 
harder  it  is  to  get,  but  if  at  least  58  deg.  or  60  deg. 
gasoline  is  not  furnished  for  ordinary  use,  it  will  be  best 
to  get  a  small  amount  of  higher  test,  if  possible,  for 
priming  purposes.  If  a  high  test  gasoline  cannot  be  had 
for  ordinary  running,  it  is  a  good  idea  to  try  to  at  least 
have  some  of  it  on  hand  for  priming,  and  to  carry  a 
small  quantity  of  it  in  a  bottle  or  squirt  can.  On  ex- 
tremely cold  days  warm  this  gasoline  before  using,  by 
holding  the  bottle  or  can  in  hot  water  for  a  minute  or 
two. 

There   is   another  liquid   called   sulphuric   ether  often 

77 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


more  easily  bought  than  high  test  gasoline,  as  it  can  be 
purchased  at  any  drug  store,  and  which  is  good  to  prime 
with,  as  it  is  much  more  easily  vaporized  than  gasoline. 
It  is  also  much  more  explosive,  and  greater  care  must 
be  taken  in  its  use.  It  costs  more  than  gasoline. 

Many  of  the  motor  cars  on  the  market  are  of  the  two- 
cycle  type,  and  the  oil  for  the  engine  is  mixed  with  the 
gasoline  before  it  is  put  into  the  gasoline  tank.  This 
gives  a  good  chance  to  get  warm  gasoline  for  starting. 
The  oil  is  usually  mixed  one  pint  of  oil  to  five  gallons 
of  gasoline,  or  with  some  oils  as  much  as  one-half  pint 
of  oil  to  the  gallon.  In  cold  weather  the  oil  may  be 
warmed  before  mixing  it  with  the  gasoline.  This  gives 
a  tank  of  warm  gasoline  to  start,  without  any  danger 
of  explosion. 

Usually  there  is  some  water  mixed  with  gasoline  which 
often  separates,  and  as  the  water  is  heavier  it  settles  in 
the  low  points  of  the  pipe  connections  to  the  carburetor 
or  in  the  carburetor  itself  and  then  freezes,  blocking  the 
pipe  and  preventing  the  gasoline  from  flowing.  To  find 
out  whether  this  has  occurred,  flood  the  carburetor,  and 
if  gasoline  flows  continually  the  pipe  is  probably  clear. 
If  it  is  blocked,  heat  the  low  points  to  melt  the  ice.  Even 
in  warm  weather  it  is  a  good  plan  to  strain  all  gasoline 
used  through  a  chamois  skin  to  remove  the  water,  but 
in  winter  it  is  an  extremely  good  plan,  as  it  will  prevent 
trouble  with  frozen  carburetor  and  feed  tubes.  Gasoline 
flows  slowly  through  a  chamois  skin,  and  it  may  be 
found  that  it  will  take  too  long  to  strain  it  at  the  time 
of  filling  the  tank,  so  it  is  a  good  plan  to  have  an  extra 
gasoline  can  and  strain  the  gasoline  into  it  at  convenient 
times,  then  fill  the  tank  on  the  car  from  that  can.  An- 
other way  to  prevent  freezing  is  to  drain  the  carburetor 

78 


WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

and  feed  tube  at  night  after  closing  the  gasoline  tank 
shut-off  cock.  The  gasoline  thus  drained  out  may  be 
caught  in  a  cup  and  poured  back  into  the  gasoline  tank. 

It  is  a  good  plan  in  cold  weather  to  warm  up  the 
engine  in  the  car  house  by  running  it  a  moment  or  two 
there  before  taking  it  out  into  the  colder  air.  On  cars 
which  have  a  clutch  for  freeing  the  engine  from  the 
"driving  mechanism,  this  is  simple.  With  the  direct 
driven  type  of  cars  such  as  is  largely  used  for  section 
and  extra  gang  work,  where  the  driving  axle  forms  the 
crank  shaft  of  the  engine,  or  is  directly  connected  to  it 
by  gears  or  chain  without  a  clutch,  the  engine  may  be 
run  in  the  car  house  by  raising  the  engine  end  of  the 
car  and  sliding  a  box  under  it  so  that  the  driving  wheels 
will  not  touch  the  floor;  then  starting  the  engine  by 
turning  the  driving  wheels  with  the  hands.  The  engine 
will  start  more  easily  this  way  without  a  load  than  by 
pushing  the  car  on  the  track,  especially  if  the  rails  are 
frosty. 

After  the  engine  is  once  started  and  warmed,  it 
usually  will  operate  without  trouble,  but.  a  gasoline  en- 
gine always  runs  on  less  gasoline  in  warm  weather  than 
in  winter.  On  water-cooled  cars  it  is  a  good  plan  to 
reduce  the  cooling  capacity  of  the  radiator  during  the 
winter.  This  is  easily  done  by  covering  part  of  the 
radiator  with  a  piece  of  oil  cloth  or  canvas.  The  water 
will  continue  to  flow  through  the  entire  radiator,  but  air 
will  be  drawn  only  through  that  part  which  is  not  cov- 
ered by  the  cloth,  and  where  there  is  no  air  there  is  no 
cooling.  In  this  way  the  cooling  capacity  of  the  radiator 
can  be  reduced  as  wanted.  Be  careful  of  water-cooled 
cars  to  see  that  the  water  does  not  freeze  in  winter  and 
burst  a  cylinder  or  radiator.  An  anti-freeze  solution  is 

79 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


the  best  thing  to  use.  The  following  table  gives  the 
freezing  points  of  anti-freeze  solutions  made  by  mixing 
alcohol,  glycerine  and  water. 


Wood  Alcohol 
5   per  cent 
10   per  cent 
12  %  per  cent 
15   per  cent 
16  ^  per  cent 
10   per  cent 

Glycerine 
5   per  cent 
10   per  cent 
12%  per  cent 
15   per  cent 
16V2  per  cent 

Water 
90  per  cent 
80  per  cent 
75  per  cent 
70  per  cent 
67  per  cent 
90  per  cent 

Freezing  Point 
25  deg.  above  zero 
15  deg.  above  zero 
8  deg.  above  zero 
5  deg.  above  zero 
15  deg.  above  zero 
18  deg.  above  zero 

20   per  cent 

80  per  cent 

5  deg  above  zero 

25   per  cent 

75  per  cent 

2  deg  above  zero 

30   per  cent 

70  per  cent 

9  deg.  above  zero 

35   per  cent 

65  per  cent 

15  deg.  above  zero 

10   per  cent 

90  per  cent 

28  deg.  above  zero 

30   per  cent 

70  per  cent 

15  deg  above  zero 

40   per  cent 

60  per  cent 

5  deg  above  zero 

50   per  cent 

50  per  cent 

2  deg  above  zero 

55   uer  cent 

45  per  cent 

10  des:.  above  zero 

Ordinarily  an  engine  that  has  run  well  all  summer  will 
begin  to  miss  explosions  as  the  cold  weather  comes  on. 
The  principal  reason  for  this  is  that  cold  weather  not  only 
affects  the  gasoline,  but  it  also  slows  down  the  dry 
batteries  which  operate  the  electric  igniter  on  the  engine. 
The  oil  also  gets  hard  and  stiff  and  makes  an  engine 
hard  to  crank  and  start.  If  an  engine  gives  trouble  in 
cold  weather  try  the  following  tests,  if  possible,  before 
sending  the  car  in  for  repairs : — Take  hold  of  the  fly- 
wheel on  the  engine  and  turn  it  around  slowly  by  hand 
until  the  crank  shaft  comes  to  a  position  of  about  12 
degrees  below  its  inner  dead  center.  At  this  position 
the  igniter  should  trip  off,  and  if  you  find  that  it  does 
not  trip  off  at  this  position,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
change  the  timing.  This  is  usually  done  by  simply 
lengthening  or  shortening  a  tripping  device  which  is  at- 
tached to  the  engine.  Lengthening  the  trip  rod  will 
make  the  igniter  snap  off  earlier  and  shortening  up  the 
rod  will  make  it  snap  off  later.  If  you  find  that  it  is 
impossible  to  change  the  timing  by  adjusting  the  timing 
device,  it  may  be  necessary  to  change  the  cam  gear 

80 


WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

which  operates  the  timing  of  the  igniter  and  the  valves. 
Moving  the  gear  one  tooth  at  a  time  forward  will  make 
the  igniter  snap  off  earlier,  and  turning  the  gear  one  or 
two  teeth  backward  will  make  it  snap  off  later.  The 
timing  of  the  igniter  is  one  of  the  most  important  things 
in  operating  an  engine.  If  the  igniter  is  properly  timed, 
the  engine  will  give  good  power.  If  the  igniter  is  out 
of  time,  the  engine  will  give  very  little  power. 

The  igniter  should  be  taken  off  the  engine  and  the 
two  wires  from  the  batteries  attached  to  it.  Then,  the 
igniter  should  be  snapped  by  hand  and  notice  taken  of 
the  spark  at  the  contact  points.  If  the  batteries,  spark 
coil  and  igniter  are  aH  in  good  condition,  a  good  fat 
spark  will  be  obtained  at  the  contact  points.  If  there 
is  any  defect  in  any  one  of  these  a  good  spark  will  not 
result.  If  the  spark  is  weak  the  batteries  should  be  ex- 
amined. A  battery  can  be  easily  tested  by  an  ammeter. 
The  ammeter  should  show  at  least  six  or  eight  amperes 
for  each  battery  cell,  otherwise  the  batteries  are  too 
weak  to  operate  the  engine.  In  cold  weather  the  battery 
current  is  lower  than  in  warmer  weather,  which  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  chemicals  inside  the  battery  do  not 
work  as  actively  when  cold.  The  batteries  should  be 
kept  in  a  warm  dry  place  so  that  they  will  have  a  good 
current  to  start  the  engine.  They  should  not  be  kept 
too  warm,  otherwise  they  will  be  spoiled  because  the 
chemical  inside  them  will  evaporate  and  dry  them. 

Next  the  spark  coil  should  be  examined  for  any  broken 
connection  at  the  coil  itself  or  a  short-circuit  in  the  coil. 
If  the  coil  has  a  broken  wire  inside,  there  will  be  no 
spark  at  the  igniter  points  when  it  is  snapped  by  hand, 
even  with  a  good  strong  battery.  If  there  is  a  short- 
circuit  inside  the  coil,  a  weak  spark  will  result  at  the 

81 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


contact  points  with  a  strong  battery,  but  not  a  heavy 
spark.  The  coil  itself  needs  very  little  attention  except 
to  keep  it  from  getting  wet.  All  the  wires  that  are  con- 
nected between  the  spark  and  the  battery  and  the  igniter 
should  be  examined  and -the  binding  post  screws  should 
be  clamped  tight  so  that  they  do  not  jog  loose  when 
running  on  the  road.  All  of  these  little  brass  nuts 
should  be  tightened  up  with  a  pair  of  pliers  so  it  is  im- 
possible for  them  to  work  loose.  The  one  contact  point 
should  be  thoroughly  insulated  from  the  igniter  body. 
Ordinarily  these  points  or  bolts  are  insulated  from  the 
iron  body  of  the  igniter  by  mica  washers.  The  mica 
washers  must  be  thick  enough  and  large  enough  so  that 
no  metal  whatever  reaches  from  the  insulated  hole  to 
the  body  of  the  igniter  or  to  any  part  of  the  engine. 
Mica  washers  must  be  kept  clean  from  soot  and  carbon 
and  it  is  a  good  plan  to  remove  the  igniter  every  week 
and  scrape  all  the  soot,  rust  and  carbon  off  the  electrode 
and  the  mica  washers.  The  contact  points  of  the  igniter 
are  made  of  a  high  grade  alloy  which  will  withstand  in- 
tense heat.  This  alloy  is  a  bright  metal  and  must  be 
kept  thoroughly,  clean  so  that  the  contact  will  be  good. 
These  points  can  be  cleaned  with  sandpaper  or  with  a 
small  file  and  should  be  inspected  every  Week.  If  they 
get  worn  so  that  the  contact  touches  the  steel  on  either 
one  of  the  electrodes,  they  should  be  renewed. 

The  exhaust  valve  on  the  engine  should  be  timed  so 
that  it  opens  when  the  crank  shaft  is  40  deg.  above 
its  outer  dead  center.  The  timing  is  usually  adjusted 
by  simply  setting  the  cam  gear  in  the  proper  position 
with  the  crank  shaft  gear.  A  quick  way  of  setting  the 
exhaust  valve  at  time  is  to  set  "the  crank  shaft  so  that 
it  is  hanging  straight  down  and  then  set  the  cam  gear 

82 


WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

so  that  the  high  point  of  the  cam  is  pointing  directly 
towards  the  cylinder  head.  Then  the*  flywheel  should 
be  taken  hold  of  and  the  crank  turned  around  slowly  by 
hand  and  notice  taken  as  to  whether  the  exhaust  valve 
opens  up  at  40  degrees  above  its  outer  dead  center. 
There  is  an  adjusting  screw  which  pushes  up  against  the 
errd  of  the  exhaust  valve  and  this  screw  is  used  to  make 
small  adjustments  for  wear  on  the  exhaust  valve. 
Screwing  in  on  this  adjusting  screw  makes  the  exhaust 
valve  open  earlier,  and  unscrewing  it  makes  the  exhaust 
valve  open  later.  Before  operating  an  engine,  care 
should  be  taken  to  make  sure  that  the  screw  is  locked  by 
the  nut  which  holds  it  in  place. 

To  test  the  compression  the  fly-wheel  should  be  turned 
around  slowly  by  hand  until  the  piston  on  the  engine 
starts  towards  the  cylinder  head  and  is  working  against 
the  air  inside  the  cylinder.  If  the  engine  is  in  good 
condition  a  strong  pull  on  the  wheel  is  needed  to  pull 
the  crank  shaft  over  its  center  against  the  air,  but  if 
the  compression  is  weak,  the  crank  goes  over  easily. 
Loss  of  air-compression  is  due,  first,  to  leaky  rings: 
rings  that  have  become  worn  so  that  they  do  not  hold 
the  pressure  back :  a  ring  that  is  stuck  in  the  grooves  of 
the  piston :  a  ring  that  has  turned  to  where  the  slot  is 
on  top  of  the  piston,  or,  a  ring  in  which  the  temper  or 
spring  is  gone.  Take  the  piston  out  of  the  cylinder  and 
examine  the  rings.  They  are  sometimes  worn  in  the 
grooves  and  this  will  let  a  lot  of  pressure  escape.  The 
rings  should  have  a  spring  of  about  J/£  in.  to  T3<j-  in. 
larger  than  the  diameter  of  the  piston  so  they  will  give 
enough  pressure  against  the  cylinder  walls  to  prevent 
compressed  air  escaping. 

Leaky  valves  are  caused  by  natural  wear  on  the  valve 

83 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


seat  of  the  cylinder  head  or  valve  chamber,  and  by  the 
wearing  of  the  Head  of  the  valves  or  by  the  valves  get- 
ting pitted  or  dirty.  The  only  way  to  find  this  out  is 
to  take  the  cylinder  head  off  the  engine.  The  valve 
should  be  removed  from  its  seat  and  the  valve  head  ex- 
amined. If  this  is  not  tight  the  valve  should  be  ground 
with  emery  and  oil  against  its  seat  until  it  fits  perfectly. 
All  emery  and  oil  should  be  carefully  cleaned  off  before 
putting  the  valve  back  in  place.  Also  the  head  of  the 
valve  should  be  riveted  solid  to  the  stem  and  notice 
taken  that  it  has  not  become  loose  or  worn  on  the  stem. 
The  valve  stem  must  be  oiled  often. 

The  packing  that  is  used  around  the  engine  is  made 
of  asbestos  and  sometimes  this  asbestos  has  a  wire 
woven  into  it  to  give  it  strength.  The  packing  must 
be  very  carefully  cut  out  and  no  cracks  or  breaks  allowed 
in  its  face  or  it  will  blow  out  almost  as  fast  as  it  can  be 
put  in.  It  is  well  to  soak  the  packing  in  linseed  oil  be- 
fore applying  it  and  then  allow  the  parts  to  set  for  three 
or  four  hours  before  using  the  engine. 

Compression  is  also  lost  from  wear  on  a  cylinder  or 
piston.  If  the  oil  is  not  good  the  piston  and  cylinder 
wear  out  fast  and  this  lets  gas  escape.  If  the  piston  pin 
gets  loose,  it  will  work  itself  out  and  scratch  the  side  of 
the  cylinder  so  that  all  the  gas  may  escape. 

Be  sure  that  the  lubricator  on  the  engine  is  full  of  oil 
before  starting.  The  oil  used  is  a  mineral  oil  which  has 
a  high  fire  test.  Ordinary  machine  oil  or  steam  engine 
oil  will  not  work  on  a  gasoline  engine  because  the  heat 
from  the  explosion  is  so  intense  that  it  burns  up  the  oil 
and  does  not  allow  it  to  oil  the  cylinder.  After  the 
lubricator  has  been  filled  it  should  be  set  so  that  it  will 
drop  steadily  about  ten  to  fifteen  drops  a  minute.  Both 

84  . 


WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

glasses  must  be  kept  clean  so  as  to  see  whether  the 
lubricator  is  full  of  oil  and  working  right.  Befor'e  start- 
ing an  engine  in  cold  weather  it  is  well  to  take  the 
lubricator  off  the  engine  and  hold  it  near  a  fire  to  thaw 
out,  because  if  the  oil  is  cold  and  thick  the  engine  may 
be  burned  before  the  oil  gets  warm  enough  to  oil  the 
piston.  There  is  a  little  screw  in  the  bottom  of  the 
lubricator  that  can  be  set  with  a  screwdriver.  Turning 
this  screw  up  will  prevent  the  ball  from  lifting  so  high 
that  gas  gets  past  the  ball,  smoking  the  glass  and  pre- 
venting oil  dropping.  If  the  ball  should  be  screwed  up 
too  far  then  the  lubricator  will  drop  oil  down  into  the 
lower  glass  and  will  fill  up  and  so  oil  will  flow  out  of 
the  lubricator.  Unscrewing  the  adjustment  about  one- 
quarter  of  a  turn  will  fix  this. 

Lubricators  are  packed  with  cork  washers  and  these 
must  be  kept  tight  and  screwed  down  so  that  the  pres- 
sure through  the  little  brass  tube  inside  the  lubricator 
can  get  on  top  of  the  oil  and  balance  the  pressure  under- 
neath the  drop  of  the  oil  that  is  flowing  out  of  the 
lubricator  tube.  If  the  pressure  tube  in  the  lubricator 
gets  clogged,  then  the  oil  will  not  flow. 

Grease  cups  furnished  on  engines  are  of  two  kinds,  the 
cap  to  screw  down  by  hand  and  the  spring  feed  cup. 
To  fill  the  cup,  unscrew  the  cap,  fill  with  grease,  and 
screw  down  the  cap  on  the  stem.  There  is  a  small  ad- 
justing screw  in  the  stem  of  the  grease  cup  which  has 
a  hole  through  it  to  regulate  the  amount  of  grease  pass- 
ing down  through  the  stem.  If  the  slot  on  the  screw 
is  straight  up  then  the  cup  is  wide  open,  but  if  the 
slot  stands  crosswise  of  the  cup,  it  is  closed.  In  cold 
weather  these  cups  sometimes  get  clogged  from 
grease  being  too  thick  and  hard.  Clean  them  out  and 

85 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


put  in  thinner  grease  by  mixing  the  ordinary  grease  with 
lubricating  oil,  or  get  a  grade  of  grease  that  is  adapted 
to  cold  weather. 

In  very  cold  weather  the  mixer  pipe  on  the  engine 
may  freeze  because  the  air  in  passing  through  the  small 
pipe  opening  travels  so  fast  that  it  gets  very  cold.  An 
engine  used  a  great  deal  in  very  cold  weather  should 
have  a  hot  air  pipe  attached  to  the  mixer  which  will 
allow  the  air  drawn  into  the  engine  to  be  taken  from 
near  the  warm  walls  of  the  cylinder.  This  will  help  to 
prevent  trouble. 

A  squirt  can  may  be  filled  with  gasoline  and  then  put  into 
a  pan  of  boiling  hot  water.  This  will  heat  the  gasoline 
in  the  squirt  can  without  any  danger  of  the  gasoline 
catching  fire,  and  the  heated  gasoline  can  be  used  in 
starting  in  cold  weather.  Some  of  the  warm  gasoline 
can  be  squirted  into  the  bottom  of  the  mixer  or  through 
the  priming  cock  on  the  engine.  A  great  deal  of  care 
must  be  taken  that  the  can  of  gasoline  is  not  exposed 
to  fire  as  heated  gasoline  will  catch  fire  very  much  easier 
than  cold  gasoline. 

When  shutting  down  the  engine  and  putting  it  away 
for  the  night  or  allowing  it  to  stand  for  any  length  of 
time  it  is  best  to  throw  a  heavy  blanket  over  the  cylin- 
der to  keep  the  cylinder  walls  hot.  Any  heat  around  an 
engine  will  help  in  getting  started.  All  hand  car  en- 
gines should  have  tight  side  curtains  or  should  be 
boarded  up  solid.  These  curtains  keep  the  heat  inside 
and  keep  out  dirt  and  dust. 

Sometimes  an  engine  will  not  work  because  the  gaso- 
line pipe  is  clogged  with  dirt  or  scale.  Dirt  gets  into 
the  gasoline  when  filling  the  tank  and  it  does  not  take 
very  much  of  it  to  cause  trouble  with  the  needle  valve. 

86 


WINTER  TRACK  FORCE,  TOOLS  AND  SUPPLIES 

The  valve  hole  is  very  small  and  any  grain  of  dirt  or 
sand  may  prevent  the  gasoline  from  getting  into  the 
mixer.  Sometimes  scale  from  the  pipe  breaks  off  and 
floats  along  with  the  gasoline,  is  carried  up  to  the  needle 
valve,  clogs  the  hole  and  prevents  the  gasoline  from 
getting  into  the  mixer.  This  dirt  and  scale  sometimes 
gets  underneath  the  check  valve  in  the  gasoline  pipe  and 
prevents  the  valve  from  dropping  back  into  its  seat  and 
this  causes  the  engine  to  flood.  Dirt  or  ice  gathering 
around  the  seat  of  the  check  valve  will  prevent  the  gaso- 
line from  flowing  through  freely,  and  will  make  the  engine 
act  irregularly. 

The  connecting  rod  bearing  to  the  crank  pin  should  be 
watched.  This  bearing  gets  severe  strain  and  hammer- 
ing from  the  crank  shaft  when  reversing  the  motion  of 
the  piston.  If  this  bearing  gets  loose  it  may  cause  a 
serious  wreck  of  an  engine,  for  the  hammering  of  the 
plunger  and  reciprocating  parts  will  break  the  bolts  that 
fasten  the  cap  to  the  connecting  rod.  The  cap  is  drawn 
up  against  metal  shims  or  thin  liners  and  if  it  starts  to 
pound  it  will  be  necessary  to  take  one  of  these  liners 
out  from  between  the  cap  and  rod  and  draw  the  cap 
down  so  there  is  no  play  between  the  bearing  and  the 
pin.  The  main  bearings  are  those  that  the  crank  shaft 
runs  in  and  are  part  of  the  main  frame  of  the  engine. 
Should  these  bearings  get  loose,  the  crank  will  pound 
on  the  frame  so  hard  that  it  will  finally  crack  it  and 
probably  break  the  crank  shaft..  These  bearings  should 
be  examined  every  day.  More  engines  are  broken  be- 
cause of  loose  connecting  rod  bearings  and  main  bearings 
than  from  any  other  cause.  The  life  of  the  engine  will 
be  much  longer  if  these  bearings  are  watched  and  kept 
tight. 

During  cold  weather  an  engine  cranks  harder  than  in 

87 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


warm  weather  because  oil  and  grease  is  hardened.  Great 
care  must  be  taken  in  cranking  an  engine  in  cold  weather 
as  the  igniter  may  explode  the  charge  before  the  piston 
comes  up  to  the  center,  and  kick  backward,  and  is  likely 
to  throw  a  starting  crank  around  and  break  the  arm  of 
the  operator.  A  firm  hold  should  be  taken  of  the  start- 
ing crank  and  a  good  swift  whirl  given  it,  especially  at 
the  time  that  the  engine  is  about  to  trip  off  the  igniter. 

If  the  mixture  of  gasoline  is  too  weak  it  usually  ex- 
plodes with  a  loud  noise  in  the  mixer.  This  is  backfire 
and  shows  that  the  throttle  needle  is  not  opened  wide 
enough.  A  lean  mixture  is  also  indicated  by  a  weak  ex- 
plosion or  by  the  engine  missing  explosions.  If  a  check 
valve  gets  stuck  or  if  the  valve  has  worn  badly,  the  mix- 
ture will  be  too  weak  and  the  engine  will  not  explode 
properly.  This  weak  mixture  may  also  be  caused  by 
either  dirt  or  ice  getting  into  the  pipe  or  into  the  gaso- 
line nozzle. 

If  there  are  any  explosions  in  the  muffler  of  an  engine 
they  show  that  the  gasoline  mixture  is  too  rich  and  that 
some  of  the  gasoline  should  be  shut  off.  It  there  is 
smoke  coming  out  of  the  exhaust  pipe  or  muffler  this 
also  shows  there  is  too  much  gasoline  being  fed  to  the. 
engine.  An  engine  that  runs  with  a  lag  or  slow  explo- 
sions has  too  strong  gasoline.  If  the  needle  valve  is 
too  far  open  the  amount  of  gasoline  drawn  into  it  at 
one  charge  is  too  much  for  the  amount  of  air,  and  it 
should  be  shut  down  part  way. 

Most  trouble  comes  from  ignition,  loss  of  air,  oiling 
and  loose  bearings.  If  these  points  are  watched  care- 
fully and  kept  in  good  condition,  the  engine  will  run 
well. 

Above  all  other  things,  keep  the  bearings  tightened  and 
don't  let  the  engine  pound. 

88 


CHAPTER  VI. 
SNOW  FENCES  AND   SNOW  SHEDS. 

Railway  snow  fences  are  barriers  put  up  to  keep  snow 
from  drifting  onto  the  tracks. 

In  many  ways  and  with  many  different  materials,  the 
people  of  various  countries  have  for  years  built  barriers 
to  keep  wind-blown  snow  from  obstructing  traveled 
ways.  These  barriers  are  sometimes  permanent,  but 
more  often  temporary,  depending  on  the  circumstances 
under  which  they  were  built  and  used. 

Kinds  of  Snow  Fence. — Blocks  of  snow,  cakes  of  ice, 
ridges  of  earth,  squares  of  sod,  brush  fences,  fences  of 
old  ties,  rail  fences,  open  board  fences,  tight  board  fences, 
panels  of  portable  board  fence,  dry  stone  walls,  masonry 
walls,  brick  and  concrete  walls,  rows  of  trees  and  hedges 
are  all  used  for  this  purpose. 

Location  of  Snow  Fences. — In  America  the  snow  fence 
most  commonly  used  is  made  of  wooden  boards.  It  does 
not  take  highly  skilled  labor  to  make  snow  fence ;  but  it 
does  take  a  person  of  skill  and  experience  in  handling 
snow  and  a  person  well  acquainted  with  the  action  of  the 
winds  in  the  particular  locality  where  the  fence  is  to  be 
used  to  tell  just  how  and  where  it  must  be  set  to  do  the 
most  good.  A  great  deal  of  actual  harm  can  be  done  with 
snow  fence  wrongly  placed.  Too  much  snow  fence  is 
usually  worse  than  none  at  all.  The  very  careful  keeping 
of  records  of  the  results  of  placing  snow  fence  to  protect 
track  is  of  great  value  because  it  shows  the  action  of  the 
wind  in  driving  the  snow,  and  of  the  quarters  from  which 
it  may  be  expected  in  winter  storms.  No  two  storms  are 

89 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


exactly  alike.  Certainly  no  two  winter  seasons  are  quite 
alike.  Therefore,  until  records  are  completed  covering 
several  years'  storms,  it  is  not  safe  to  erect  permanent 
snow  fences  for  railway  use.  These  records  should  give 
dates  and  duration  of  storms,  the  position  and  height  of 
snow  fence  erected  at  each  locality  to  be  protected, 
necessity  for  changing  position  of  fence,  direction  and  in- 
tensity of  wind,  changes  in  wind  and  effects  of  moving 
or  altering  fence. 

At  the  close  of  the  winter  season  the  snow  fence  pro- 
gram for  the  succeeding  year  should  be  carefully  made 
out  while  all  the  details  of  the  snow  fight  are  fresh  in  the 
minds  of  those  interested. 

Snow  fences  are  placed  on  the  windward  side  of  the 
tracks  which  are  to  be  protected,  and  in  such  position  as 
to  effectively  stop  the  snow.  If  possible,  they  are  set  ex- 
actly across  the  path  of  the  prevailing  winter  wind. 

Board  Snow  Fences. — Fences  made  with  wide  spaces 
between  the  boards  are  intended  to  stop  the  snow  be- 
tween the  snow  fence  and  the  tracks.  The  fence  partially 
stops  the  wind,  making  an  eddy  which  gives  the  air  cur- 
rents an  upward  motion  so  that  the  flying  snow  jumps 
the  fences  and  alights  on  the  leeside,  between  the  fence 
and  the  tracks.  This  snow  drifts  into  a  pile  with  a  long 
slope,  about  15  to  1,  depending  somewhat  on  the  force 
of  the  wind.  A  tight  fence  or  wall  will  stop  the  wind 
entirely,  making  it  whirl  the  snow  over  and  back  like 
surf  on  the  shore.  This  snow  falls  on  the  windward  side 
of  the  fence,  where  it  piles  up  close  against  it  with  a  slope 
of  3  to  1  to  5  to  1,  according  to  the  strength  of  the  wind. 
After  the  drift  reaches  the  top  of  the  tight  fence,  snow 
coming  later  will  blow  over  the  fence  from  the  windward 
to  the  lee  side.  Blowing  up  the  3  to  1  slope  of  the  drift 

90 


SNOW  FENCES  AND  SNOW  SHEDS 

on  the  windward  side,  the  snow  will  blow  further  over 
the  top  of  the  tight  board  fence  than  it  would  go  over  an 
open  fence.  If  there  is  room  to  properly  place  a  snow 
fence,  there  is  little  to  choose  between  an  open  and  a 
tight  fence,  so  far  as  the  amount  of  snow  they  keep  back 
is  concerned. 

There  are  other  considerations,  however.  A  tight  board 
fence  costs  more  than  an  open  board  fence  of  the  same 
dimensions.  Again,  open  snow  fence  is  portable  when 
made  in  separate  panels  that  can  be  carried  about  and  set 
to  suit  the  winds  and  tracks.  These  separate  panels  of 
portable  or  temporary  fence  have  this  advantage :  they 
can  be  set  exactly  at  right  angles  to  the  wind  if  desired 
and  not  parallel  to  the  tracks,  and  with  spaces  of  about 
2  ft.  between  panels  for  the  sake  of  economy. 

Because  snow  piles  up  between  the  open  fence  and 
tracks  at  a  slope  of  15  to  1,  it  follows  that  an  open  snow 
fence  should  be  set  15  ft.  away  from  the  tracks  for  each 
foot  of  height  of  the  fence.  A  6-ft.  high,  open  fence 
should  be  set  90  ft.  from  the  track.  If  set  closer,  the 
snow  will  encroach  upon  the  track.  Most  often,  the 
rights-of-way  of  railways  are  too  narrow  to  permit  placing 
even  low  fences  far  enough  from  tracks  to  get  the  best 
results.  The  usual  width  of  right-of-way  in  America  is 
100  ft.,  although  it  is  often  narrower  and  seldom  wider. 
When  a  right-of-way  is  too  narrow,  it  may  sometimes  pay 
to  erect  a  high,  tight  fence  at  the  boundary  line,  provided 
permission  cannot  be  had  from  the  adjacent  property 
owners  to  place  portable  snow  fence  on  their  land  in 
winter,  to  be  removed  in  summer.  Portable  fence  is 
often  moved  during  a  winter's  season.  It  may  be  moved 
back  from  the  tracks  after  holding  a  drift  to  the  limit 

91 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


nnnnn 


92 


SNOW  FENCES  AND  SNOW  SHEDS 

of  its  height,  or  it  may  be  moved  to  better  face  the 
winter  winds. 

Portable  Snow  Fence. — The  portable  fence  is  made 
usually  of  rough  lumber  1  in.  by  6  in.  by  16  ft.,  placed 
horizontally  with  spaces  6  in.  wide  between  boards,  on 
two  by  fours,  as  posts.  See  Figure  8.  These  posts  are  not 
upright,  but  slant  backward  to  meet  the  rear  posts  which 
lean  forward  and  are  about  two  feet  longer.  The  top  three 
or  four  boards  of  the  fence  are  carried  on  the  extension 
ends  of  the  rear  posts,  so  that  the  top  of  the  fence  leans 
forward.  The  front  and  rear  posts  are  held  by  bolts  to 
each  other  and  the  fence  panels  are  easily  folded  for 
piling  when  not  in  use.  This  portable  fence  is  a  safe 
and  handy  protection,  especially  when  the  winds  are 
variable  and  the  climate  not  absolutely  well  known. 

Snow  Boards. — Snow  boards  are  frequently  placed  on 
the  ordinary  railway  boundary  fence  to  protect  tracks 
from  snow.  If  a  permanent  snow  fence  is  to  be  built 
on  a  boundary  line,  it  should  be  made  to  serve  both  pur- 
poses, protection  against  snow  and  protection  against 
stock,  as  there  is  no  use  having  two  fences  where  one 
will  do. 

Permanent  Snow  Fence. —  Permanent  snow  fence  is 
built  on  posts  set  in  the  ground.  It  may  have  open 
spaces  between  the  horizontal  boards,  or  the  boards  may 
be  set  close  together  with  the  edges  touching.  See  Figure  9. 
Tight  board  fence  may  have  its  boards  placed  upright  or 
level.  The  posts  of  permanent  fence  are  often  staggered, 
the  post  in  the  middle  of  each  panel  being  set  on  the  side  of 
boards  away  from  the  track,  all  others  being  on  the  track 
side.  With  such  staggered  posts,  boards  cannot  easily  be 
taken  from  the  fence,  nor  can  the  fence  be  easily  weak- 
ened. 

93 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


On  account  of  danger  from  fire,  the  bottom  board  of 
snow  fence  should  be  at  least  9  ins.  and  preferably  12 
ins.  clear  of  the  ground.  This  small  space  is  not  im- 
portant because  the  snow  will  quickly  fill  it.  Permanent 
fences  are  usually  built  on  the  right-of-way  boundary 

4  -Pieces  I"x6tt -12' Rough  Hem.  (Braces) 
||  14 -Pieces  FxP- 14' Rough  Hemlock.     Cedar  Posh  16' long.  5"  Top.    || 


!_ 


All  noils  clinched. 
Brace  front  and  back  where  needed. 


^ 


About  !3'o.c. 


"x  14' 


PWMANVrr  SNOW  F£NC£.  10  fT  HIGH 
Fig.  9 — Permanent  Snow  Fence. 


lines.  In  Europe,  masonry  walls  are  built  for  protecting 
tracks  from  snow  in  places  where  the  right-of-way  is 
not  more  than  25  feet  wide. 

In  case  of  drifting  snow,  as  well  .as  of  many  other 
troubles,  an  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of 
cure. 

Avoiding   Necessity   for   Snow    Fence. — To   do   away 

94 


SNOW  FENCES  AND  SNOW  SHEDS 

with  the  necessity  for  snow  fences,  new  tracks  may  be 
constructed  to  a  high  grade  line  so  as  to  make  the  top 
of  the  rail  above  the  surface  of  the  average  depth  of 
snow.  In  snowy  countries,  track  which  would  be  ordi- 
narily laid  on  the  ground,  is  laid  on  3-ft.  banks,  so  that 
the  snow  blows  away  instead  of  lodging  against  and  drifting 
over  them. 

The  plowing  of  snow  should  be  done  in  such  a  way 
that  the  snow  moved  will  be  thrown  clear  of  the  roadbed. 
To  do  this  the  snow  plow  must  be  run  at  a  high  rate 
of  speed  or  some  snow  will  be  dropped  and  will  form 
snow  ridges  at  the  tie  ends.  These  ridges  stop  drifting 
snow  and  make  it  fill  the  tracks.  A  heavy  wet  snow 
can  scarcely  be  thrown  50  feet  with  a  Russell  plow  going 
50  miles  an  hour.  In  spite  of  all  precautions,  snow  ridges 
will  gradually  appear  near  tie  ends  as  the  season  prog- 
resses, and  they  should  be  spread  back  if  possible  to 
avoid  danger  of  the  track  filling  up  between  the  ridges. 

Where  the  track  is  through  cuts  the  slopes  should  be 
made  flat  and  the  roadbed  should  be  raised  about  3  ft. 
so  as  to  look  the  same  as  in  fill.  This  gives  the  same 
advantage  over  snow  as  embankments.  The  immense 
advantage  of  building  a  railway  in  snowy  country  with 
due  allowances  made  for  snow  fall,  snow  drifting  and 
snow  plow  ridges,  can  scarcely  be  estimated,  for  the  ex- 
pense of  fighting  snow  is  enormous  and  far  reaching. 
The  expense  of  snow  handling  in  late  winters  depends 
largely  on  what  has  been  done  in  the  early  winter 
months.  Then  it  .is  that  most  careful  work  must  be  done 
to  provide  room  forthe  snow  of  the  severe  storms  which 
are  expected  to  follow.  Too  often  only  the  present  is 
considered,  while  the  snow  of  successive  storms  gradu- 
ally closes  in  more  and  more  until  serious  trouble  results. 

95 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


Hard,  high  center  in  tracks  is  the  result  of  lax  plowing 
in  early  winter.  It  is  extremely  hard  to  get  people  in- 
terested in  winter  work  during"  a  summer  season.  Snow 
fence,  however,  should  be  made  in  summer  and  be  ready 
for  use  when  the  winter  season  approaches. 

Shallow  cuts  which  lie  broadside  to  the  prevailing 
winter  winds  are  most  likely  to  drift  full  of  snow.  Deep 
cuts  through  abrupt  hills  give  comparatively  little  trou- 
ble in  winter  because  the  hill  divides  the  wind,  which 
goes  around  on  each  side  of  the  cut.  The  shallow  cut, 
on  the  other  hand,  causes  an  eddy  to  form  from  the  wind 
blowing  over  the  cut,  and  the  snow  falls  from  this  eddy 
into  the  cut  and  fills  it  rapidly.  There  are  cases  where 
snow  fence  is  needed  on  each  side  of  a  track.  Hard 
winds  that  blow  from  opposite  or  different  quarters  make 
fences  necessary  on  both  sides  of  a  track.  The  posts 
of  permanent  snow  fence  should  be  set  deeply  into  the 
ground  to  prevent  heaving  from  frost,  and  to  resist  the 
force  of  winds  and  pressure  of  snow  from  the  windward 
side.  Snow-fence  boards  should  be  securely  nailed  to 
the  posts  on  the  windward  side. 

Other  Types  of  Snow  Fence. — Blocks  of  hard  snow 
are  piled  up  as  in  a  dry  stone  wall,  for  temporary  protec- 
tion from  snow  drifting  in  winter.  Cakes  of  ice  are  sim- 
ilarly used.  Ridges  of  earth  are  thrown  up  from  the 
trench  formed  on  the  windward  side  by  removal  of  the 
earth.  Sod  fences  are  made  in  much  the  same  way  as 
ice  walls.  Brush  fences  are  made  by  placing  the  branches 
side  by  side  with  tops  toward  the  wind  as  high  as 
needed,  and  with  butts  weighted  with  dirt  or  rock.  An 
objection  to  brush  fence  is  that  in  summer  it  becomes  a 
fire  trap  which  cannot  be  easily  moved.  If  brush  fence 
is  used,  it  is  well  to  clear  a  fire  path  all  around  it  for 

96 


SNOW  FENCES  AND  SNOW  SHEDS 

the  summer,  throwing  the  earth  onto  the  bottom  ends 
of  the  boughs.  Old  ties  are  sometimes  stood  side  by 
side  and  on  end  in  a  shallow  trench,  to  protect  tracks 
from  snow.  Hedges  are  usually  planted  at  the  right-of- 
way  lines.  Walls  of  brick  and  masonry  are  placed  in 
the  same  relative  positions.  Trees  are  sometimes  planted 
in  fairly  big  groves  to  replace  the  virgin  timber  which 
would  have  protected  the  tracks  from  snow.  Cone-bear- 
ing or  evergreen  trees  like  the  balsam  and  cedar,  if 
planted  in  a  climate  where  they  grow  well,  are  suitable 
for  protection  against  snow,  when  planted  several  rows 
deep  and  staggered  so  that  the  trees  of  each  row  stand 
behind  an  open  space  of  the  row  in  front.  Trees  form 
an  effective  protection  especially  when  trimmed  so  that 
limbs  grow  close  to  the  ground.  Hedges  should  be  top 
trimmed  to  make  the  plants  grow  low  and  bushy,  not 
more  than  5  or  6  ft.  high. 

Cost  of  Snow  Fence. — The  cost  of  wooden  portable 
snow  fence  has  been  estimated  at  $3.50  per  rod.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  such  fence  was  made  in  1915  for  $2.50  per 
16  ft.  panel.  Loading,  transportation,  unloading  and 
setting  in  place  brought  this  cost  up  to  $2.80;  and  25  per 
cent  overhead  expense  added  70c  per  panel,  bringing  the 
cost  at  $3.50.  To  this  should  be  added  the  yearly  cost  of 
piling  and  resetting  of  not  less  than  30c,  a  maintenance 
cost  of  20  per  cent  and  interest  on  investment  at  5  per 
cent,  or  an  actual  total  cost  of  about  $4.75  per  panel  in- 
cluding a  slight  cost  for  loss  by  fire. 

On  account  of  this  cost,  which  amounts  to  $150.00 
per  mile  of  fence  if  panels  are  set  1  ft.  apart,  it  has  been 
argued  that  the  planting  of  trees  and  hedges  is  advisable. 
Some  of  the  stronger  railway  companies  of  the  north 
have  experimented  with  these  "live"  snow  fences  on  the 

97 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


basis  of  comparative  economy.  The  fire  risk  is  probably 
less  with  growing  timber  and  shrubs.  The  maintenance 
is  less  in  some  cases  and  in  time  the  timber  may  have  com- 
mercial value,  especially  for  fence  posts  and  ties. 

On  the  other  hand  extra  right-of-way  would  in  most 
cases  be  necessary  to  keep  the  inside  of  the  plantation 
100  feet  from  .the  center  line  of  track,  the  strip  planted 
being  about  60  ft.  wide.  The  land  must  be  plowed,  the 
trees  and  shrubs  must  be  known  to  thrive  well  in  the 
region  to  be  protected,  and  expert  supervision  given. 

The  cultivation  of  the  ground  has  been  described  as 
first  a  four  inch  plowing,  followed  by  disk  harrowing  or 
rolling  in  spring  and  backsetting  to  about  the  same  depth 
in  autumn.  In  the  spring  of  the  second  year  the  land 
is  deep  plowed,  say  14  inches,  and  planting  is  done  in 
the  spring  of  the  third  year.  The  shrubs  are  planted  on 
the  outside  and  trees  on  the  track  side. .  Willows  are 
recommended,  as  they  will  grow  limbs  close  to  the 
ground  if  properly  pruned.  Evergreens  are  effective 
where  they  will  grow  well.  In  alkali  ground  planta- 
tions have  not  thrived.  In  some  cases  it  is  possible  to 
lease  a  perpetual  right  to  maintain  groves.  Considering 
the  cost  of  right-of-way  or  lease,  the  care  and  class  of 
labor  demanded,  and  the  nursery  expense,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  very  many  railway  companies  will  go  exten- 
sively into  such  ventures  in  the  near  future,  but  as  timber 
becomes  more  expensive  and  permanency  of  fences  more 
desirable,  the  tendency  toward  tree  planting  for  snow 
protection  will  undoubtedly  increase. 

When  a  fence  or  other  barrier  for  snow  protection 
cannot  be  placed  far  enough  from  the  track  for  the  best 
results,  then  it  should  be  built  tight  and  high  with  a 
view  to  holding  snow  behind  or  on  the  windward  side. 

98 


SNOW  FENCES  AND  SNOW  SHEDS 

As  snow  held  on  the  windward  side  takes  a  steeper  slope 
than  lee-side  drifts,  the  fence  must  be  higher  to  control 
a  given  amount  of  snow.  Where  heavy  snow  fall  and 
strong  winds  prevail,  two  or  more  rows  of  snow  fence 
are  needed.  Where  there  is  room  these  fences,  usually 
of  the  portable  variety,  are  placed  about  100  ft.  apart,  all 
parallel  to  the  tracks.  When  the  snow  has  drifted  as 
high  as  the  fence,  the  fence  is  of  no  further  use  in  that 
place  and  may  be  moved  up  on  top  of  the  snowdrift 
if  far  enough  from  the  tracks.  In  late  winter  a  great 
deal  of  snow  fence  is  so  moved,  snow  walls  are  built 
and  added  to,  and  brush  fence  is  made  on  top  of  snow- 
drifts. . 

Wide  Cuts. — The  older  railways  have  relatively  less 
trouble  with  snow  than  new  lines  because  it  is  found 
economical  to  widen  embankments  before  re-ballasting, 
and  this  earth  is  most  easily  obtained  with  ditching  ma- 
chines or  steam  shovels  from  the  narrow  cuts  along 
the  line,  thus  providing  a  wider  roadbed  in  both  cut 
and  fill,  by  one  operation.  There  is  a  tendency,  how- 
ever, to  slight  the  taking*  of  material  from  the  shal- 
lower cuts,  because  there  is  not  enough  of  it  in  any  one 
stand  of  the  shovel.  As  these  are  the  cuts  which  give- 
most  trouble  in  winter,  it  is  well  to  stop  the  ditcher- 
long  enough  to  suitably  flatten  the  slopes,  widen  the 
cut  to  the  grade  point  at  each  end,  and  leave  the  track 
on  a  roadbed  in  the  middle  three  or  four  feet  above  the 
bottom  of  the  ditches.  In  cleaning  ditches,  trackmen 
should  be  rigidly  required  to  take  the  refuse  material 
out  of  the  cut  on  a  push  car  and  place  it  on  the  slopes 
of  the  nearest  fill  below  the  level  of  the  bottom  of  the^ 
ballast,  instead  of  throwing  it  up  on  the  banks  of  the. 
cut,  from  where  it  will  wash  back  into  the  ditches  on 

99 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


gradually  form  a  ridge  on  top  which  will  in  effect  deepen 
the  cut  and  make  it  catch  more  snow. 

Ends  of  Snow  Fences. — A  great  deal  has  been  said  in 
favor  of  turning  snow  fence  ends  in  toward  the  track 
to  protect  the  cuts  from  snow-drifting,  with  winds  blow- 
ing almost  parallel  with  the  tracks.  The  theory  sounds 
well,  but  in  practice  it  is  only  in  exceptional  cases  that 
it  does  any  good.  In  most  cases,  turning  snow  fence 
ends  toward  the  track  results  in  more  harm  than  good. 
As  a  general  thing  it  is  not  well  to  slant  more  than  one 
end-fenc.e  panel  in  the  direction  of  the  tracks. 

Driftwood  is  found  in  streams  in  spots  where  eddies 
are  formed  by  some  obstruction  which  turns  the  current 
so  sharply  that  the  water  whirls  about  in  a  circle  or 
whirlpool.  Exactly  the  same  thing  happens  to  make, 
snowdrifts.  Some  object  in  the  path  of  the  wind  stops 
the  current  or  whirls  it,  forming  a  partial  calm.  Then, 
of  course,  the  snow  which  is  being  blown  by  the  wind, 
whirls  about  and  falls  to  the  ground,  and  so  gradually 
forms  a  snowdrift. 

Location  of  Buildings. — Xot  only  snow  fence,  but  any 
obstruction  such  as  buildings,  embankments,  or  piles  of 
ties,  will  make  snow  drifts.  Therefore  it  is  best,  in  all 
snowy  countries,  to  put  all  waste  banks,  buildings,  plat- 
forms, switch  stands  and  sidings  on  the  lee  side  of  the 
main  track,  and  if  possible,  to  get  all  far  enough  from  the 
main  track  so  that  the  drifts  which  form  to  windward  of 
these  structures  will  not  extend  far  enough  to  windward 
from  them  to  cover  the  main  track.  If  the  proper  atten- 
tion is  given  this  matter  in  the  location  of  buildings  in 
railway  yards,  especially  locomotive  houses,  turntables 
and  cinder  pits,  a  great  deal  of  winter  work  in  the 
handling  of  snow  may  be  avoided.  A  roundhouse  should 

100 


SNOW  FENCES  AND 


SHEDS 


never  be  set  facing  the  winter  winds,  because  the  track 
space  between  the  turntable  pit  and  roundhouse  doors 
will  drift  full  of  snow  and  give  endless  trouble.  As  be- 
fore stated,  a  turntable  pit  into  which  hot  water  may  be 


Fig.  10 — Types  of  Snow  Sheds. 

turned  from  the  roundhouse  steam  plant,  will  serve  best 
as  a  place  to  melt  and  get  rid  of  snow  from  around  the 
house  and  turntable  tracks.  A  suitable  overflow  will 
regulate  the  height  of  water  in  the  pit  and  allow  snow 
water  to  run  away  through  the  sewer. 

Snow    Sheds. — Snowsheds   are   built   from   the   upper 
slopes  of  cuts  over  tracks  on  side  hills,  usually  in  moun- 

101 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


tainous  places,  where  there  is  danger  from  snow  slides 
and  avalanches,  to  cover  and  protect  the  tracks  from  the 
snow,  rocks  and  otl\er  debris  which  is  loosened  from 
mountain  sides  by  sliding  snow  and  comes  with  great 
force  down  the  long  steep  slopes,  sometimes  at  the  rate 
of  a  mile  a  minute,  carrying  everything  before  it.  These 
sheds  are  built  of  heavy  timbers  or  masonry  on  about 
the  same  slope  as  the  mountain  side  above,  so  as  to 
shoot  the  snow  over  and  clear  of  the  tracks.  These 
structures  must  of  course  be  securely  anchored  on  the 
upper  side  of  the  track.  Sometimes  retaining  walls  of 
concrete  or  other  masonry  or  timber  cribs  are  built  to 
form  the  up-hill  side  of  snow  sheds.  These  cribs  are 
filled  with  stones  and  earth,  and  similar  rilling  is  put  in 
back  of  the  cribs  between  the  cribs  and  the  slope  of  the 
cut,  making  almost  a  solid  wall  to  take  the  force  of  the 
snow  slide.  In  places  where  the  slopes  of  the  mountain 
or  the  railway  cut,  or  both,  are  too  flat  or  low  to  make 
this  kind  of  shed,  the  snow  shed  is  birlt  not  like  a  lean- 
to,  but  so  as  to  form  a  hump  over  which  the  snow  will 
slide.  For  typical  snow  sheds,  see  Figure  10. 

Snow  sheds  as  well  as  tracks  need  protection.  The 
sheds  must  be  protected  from  fire  as  well  as  from  aval- 
anches. Split  fences  are  built  on  mountain  sides  above 
the  snowsheds  to  divide  and  so  break  up  and  stop  the 
slides.  Snow  sheds  are  built  in  short  sections  and  the 
spaces  between  are  protected  by  these  split  fences,  which 
are  strong  barriers  in  "V"  shape  with  the  point  facing 
up  hill. 

Fire  Protection. — Snowsheds  are  corstantly  and  close- 
ly guarded  and  sometimes  protected  by  water  supplies 
with  hose  attachments,  by  barrels  of  water,  chemical 
engines,  hand  grenades,  and  by  fire  hose  carried  on  loco- 

102 


SNOW  FENCES  AND  SNOW  SHEDS 

motives.  Ventilation  of  snowsheds  must  also  be  con- 
sidered. When  the  sheds  are  built  in  short  sections 
they  clear  themselves  of  smoke  satisfactorily.  Other- 
wise ventilators  are  provided  in  the  roof,  or  sides  close 
to  the  roof. 

Expense  of  Snow  Protection. — But  with  all  these 
schemes  for  protecting  tracks,  much  expense  is  incurred. 
Snow  sheds  are  costly  to  build  and  costly  to  maintain. 
It  is  advisable  often  to  spend  large  sums  of  money  for 
tunnels  to  put  tracks  where  there  is  no  danger  from  snow 
slides.  Another  scheme  is  to  try  to  stop  the  snow  from 
sliding.  If  the  mountain  slope  above  the  tracks  is  heav- 
ily wooded,  there  is  not  much  danger  of  snow  slides  get- 
ting started.  In  the  timber  the  snow  does  not  melt  until 
late  in  spring,  and  the  standing  timber  prevents  it  from 
getting  any  start  down-hill  when  it  does  gradually  melt. 
The  worst  avalanches  are  those  carrying  hard  dry  snow, 
packed  till  it  weighs  nearly  as  much  as  pure  ice.  This 
snow  usually  starts  sliding  from  some  slope  too  steep  to 
hold  the  increasing  heavy  weight  of  old,  hard  snow,  and 
not  on  account  of  melting.  If  there  is  heavy  timber  in 
the  way  near  the  start  of  the  slide,  it  most  often  is  split 
and  stopped  before  it  gets  going  fast.  Therefore  some 
railway  companies  have  bought  mountain  lands  above 
their  tracks  to  prevent  the  timber  being  cut,  and  have 
replanted  timber  where  it  was  cut  over,  to  prevent  slides. 

The  Track  Foreman's  Responsibility. —  It  is  not  hard 
to  understand  that  the  protection  of  tracks  from  snow  is 
an  important  matter.  It  is  likewise  apparent  that  snow 
fence  is  a  money  saver  in  winter  track  work,  and  that 
its  value  depends  on  how  and  where  and  when  it  is  set. 
Now,  there  is  no  one  employed  by  a  railway  company  so 
competent  to  arrange  this  setting  of  snow  fence  as  the 

103 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


local  trackman.  He  goes  over  his  section  each  day.  He 
is  familiar  with  every  foot  of  the  track.  He  knows  the 
cuts  and  fills  and  curves ;  the  crossings,  sidings  and 
bridges;  the  owners  of  adjacent  lands,  the  climate  and 
the  direction  of  prevailing  winter  winds,  as  well  or  bet- 
ter than  anyone  else,  if  he  is  a  competent  foreman  and 
a  man  of  average  observation. 

It  is  true  that  the  trackman  has  his  daily  work,  has 
his  hands  and  his  mind  pretty  well  full  with  routine  du- 
ties every  day  in  the  year.  But  every  trackman,  how- 
ever busy,  has  time  to  look  about  him,  to  think  of  what 
is  to  be  done  to  provide  for  the  winter,  and  to  settle  in 
his  own  mind  the  best  way  to  go  about  it.  Right  there 
he  very  often  spoils  the  whole  thing  by  never  letting 
his  plans  get  further  than  his  own  head.  It  is  the  duty 
of  the  trackman  to  put  his  thoughts  into  words,  to  put 
his  ideas  before  his  superior  officers  and  to  keep  at  it,  in 
conversation  and  on  paper,  till  he  gets  results.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  tire  out  the  roadmaster  or  engineer  with 
these  matters.  They  will  usually  be  quick  to  see  the 
advantages  of  those  ideas  which  are  good.  Results  may 
be  slow  from  other  causes,  but  any  trackman  with  de- 
termination and  good  sense  can  get  permission  to  set 
snow  fence  on  farmers'  lands,  can  get  the  fence  to  put 
there,  and  can  tell  just  how  and  when  and  where  to  set 
it, — as  no  one  else  in  the  company's  employ  can  do. 


104 


CHAPTER  VII. 
SNOW  HANDLING  EQUIPMENT. 

Methods  of  railway  construction  and  maintenance  have 
changed  rapidly  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  in 
favor  of  machine  work  as  against  manual  labor.  The 
nation's  demands  for  economy,  combined  with  the  in- 
creasing cost  of  labor,  have  stimulated  inventions  of  la- 
bor-saving machines.  Along  these  lines,  railway  neces- 
sities have  not  been  overlooked  by  manufacturers  or  by 
the  railway  companies  themselves.  Time  was  when  the 
road  train  and  the  extra  gang  were  the  railway  builders' 
chief  dependences.  Then  came  the  steam  shovel  which 
could  "Choo,  choo,  and  shovel  dirt,  but  could  not  vote." 
Followed  the  track-laying  machine,  the  locomotive  crane, 
the  coaling  elevator,  and  many  other  inventions  among 
which  were  devices  for  handling  snow  and  ice  mechani- 
cally, instead  of  by  the  old  method  of  road  train  and 
extra  gang.  Loading  snow  on  flat  cars  with  gangs 
of  shovelers  is  a  slow  process,  especially  in  busy  switch- 
ing yards,  where  the  laborers  are  idle  while  the  road 
train  is  of  necessity  frequently  switched  about  to  clear 
the  tracks  for  other  trains.  Snow  may  be  mechanically 
lifted  off  the  tracks,  or  it  may  be  mechanically  pushed 
from  track  to  track  and  finally  landed  in  the  clear  beyond 
the  outside  tracks. 

In  the  north  and  northwest  snow  handling  is  a  vital 
matter  with  the  railways.  The  provision  of  space  for 
surplus  snow  and  the  preparation  of  the  slopes  of  cuts 
to  avoid  the  formation  of  air  pockets  which  cause  snow 
to  drift  onto  tracks,  has  led  northern  railway  companies 

105 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


to  widen  most  of  their  cuts  and  flatten  the  slopes.  This 
policy  is  still  being  pursued,  though  machine  work  has 
now  largely  replaced  the  extra  gang,  the  hand  shovel 
and  the  work  train. 

The  handling  of  snow  and  ice  is  a  heavy  responsibil- 
ity of  the  track  department;  for  on  the  preparedness, 
the  foresight,  the  watchfulness,  the  determination  and 
the  ingenuity  of  those  most  concerned  in  keeping  the 
tracks  clear  for  traffic,  depends  the  ability  of  the  railway 
to  carry  freight  and  passengers. 

V-Shaped  Push  Plow. — Of  the  machines  used  for 
clearing  snow  from  the  tracks,  the  most  simple  is  the 
V-shaped  push  plow  with  vertical  sides  and  no  wings. 
It  wredges  its  way  into  the  snow,  which  is  crowded 
aside  clear  of  the  rails  as  the  plow  is  pushed  along  ahead 
of  the  locomotive  or  car.  (See  Figure  11.) 

If  the  snow  is  wet,  heavy  or  deep,  or  if  there  is  ice 
at  the  bottom  it  is  not  easy  to  hold  such  a  plow  on 
the  track,  for  the  nose  will  rise  and  the  leading  wheels 
will  leave  the  rails  unless  the  plow  is  heavily  weighted. 

Push  cars  are  often  made  of  flat  cars,  the  V-shaped 
plow  being  fastened  by  a  beam  in  front  of  the  end  axle 
of  the  car.  Such  a  car  may  be  weighted  with  scrap 
placed  between  the  car  floor  and  a  false  floor.  At  best, 
such  a  plow  is  of  use  only  in  countries  of  light  total  snow 
fail,  because  it  cannot  throw  snow  far  aside,  and  its 
wedge  action  only  piles  the  snow,  at  the  furthest,  at  the 
ends  of  the  wings.  And  the  wings  are  limited  to  a  few 
inches  beyond  the  tie  ends  by  the  fixed  structures  along 
the  right-of-way. 

A  double-track  road  after  being  plowed  with  a  push 
plow  would  present  two  clear  tracks  with  a  ridge  of 
snow  between  and  a  ridge  on  each  side.  The  two  tracks 

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SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 


107 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


are  thus  at  the  bottoms  of  two  trenches  of  snow  and  the 
ridges  will  catch  falling  snow  and  quickly  drift  full.  To 
get  rid  of  these  ridges  of  snow,  the  old  way  was  to  get 
the  road  train  with  flats  and  extra  gang  to  shovel  them 
away,  especially  at  yards  and  at  passing  tracks.  As  a 
yard  proposition,  this  extra  gang  work  is  feasible  but 
expensive ;  but  to  employ  extra  gangs  and  road  trains 
to  clear  sno\v  from  any  considerable  mileage  of  single 
or  double-track  railway  is  almost  impossible. 

Shovel-Nosed  Push  Plow. — The  shovel-nosed  push 
plow  is  the  next  step  forward  in  machine  invention  for 
handling  snow  on  railways.  The  shovel-nosed  push 
plow  is  made  to  lift  the  snow  off  the  track  (much  as  a 
man  pushing  a  shovel  in  front  of  him  might  do)  and 
then  throw  it  aside,  over  and  on  top  of  the  snow  at  the 
sides  of  the  track.  The  front  of  this  plow  is  a  cutting 
edge  of  steel  extending  across  the  rails,  just  clearing  the 
rail  tops  and  slanting  up  and  back  three  or  four  feet  to 
a  sharp  inclined  middle  rib  with  hollowed  flaring  wings, 
so  designed  that  the  snow  lifted  by  the  shovel  is  parted 
by  the  rib  and  thrown  high  on  each  side  of  the  flaring 
wings  of  the  rapidly  moving  plow.  (See  Figure  12.) 

Some  of  these  plows  have  notches  for  the  rail  heads 
in  the  cutting  edge  of  the  shovel  end,  in  order  to  so 
lower  the  plow  that  hard  snow  and  ice  may  be  scraped 
from  between  the  rails  to  a  depth  of  two  inches  below 
top  of  rail.  Some  such  plows  have  chain  and  wheel 
hand  gears  for  raising  and  lowering  the  nose  to  clear 
obstacles  in  track,  while  others  have  compressed  air  cy- 
linders with  the  aid  of  which  the  engineer  of  the  locomo- 
tive pushing  the  plow  may  control  the  height  of  its  nose. 

In  countries  of  heavy  snow  fall  shovel-nosed  push 
plows  are  built  on  cars  which  are  enclosed.  For  further 

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SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 


109 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


clearing  the  tracks  of  snow  some  of  these  cars  have  side 
wings  attached  back  of  the  plow.  These  wings  are  solid 
upright  plank  doors  hinged  to  the  sides  of  the  car, 
against  which  they  may  be  folded  and  fastened  when 
not  in  use.  When  in  use  the  wings  are  flared  out  side- 
wise  the  track,  either  by  hand  or  by  compressed  air, 
each  wing  acting  independently  on  its  own  ratchet  gear, 
compressed  air  being  much  the  better  because  it  is 
quicker.  Rapid  working  of  snow  plow  wings  is  essen- 
tial to  clear  snow  close  to  bridges,  cattle  guards,  switch- 
es and  other  structures  without  injuring  any  object. 
Such  work  requires  an  operator  well  acquainted  with 
the  road,  and  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  obstacles  and 
clearances.  When  worked  by  hand,  the  wings  of  the 
push  plow  require  at  least  four  men,  two  to  the  wheel  of 
each  wing.  They  open  and  close  the  wings  in  answer 
to  bell  signals  from  the  operator  who  sees  the  line  ahead 
through  a  window  or  port  in  the  lookout  near  the  top 
of  the  front  end  of  the  plow.  The  distance  to  which  the 
snow  may  be  thrown  from  the  track  depends  on  the 
shape  of  the  wings,  the  speed  of  the  plow  and  the  den- 
sity of  the  snow. 

Probably  the  best  known  push  plow  is  the  Russell 
Plow,  which  was  introduced  in  Canada  in  1885  and  used 
on  the.  Intercolonial  Railway  for  some  years  before  it 
was  used  to  any  extent  by  the  railways  of  the  United 
States,  where  it  is  now  operated  over  many  lines.  This 
plow  is  a  large,  well  and  strongly-built  machine.  It  is 
designed  for  both  single  and  double-track  use,  and  is 
built  on  especially  strong  trucks  and  sills.  The  mid 
rib  which  forms  the  cutting  edge  starts  5  ft.  or  more 
back  from  the  nose  of  the  shovel.  The  weight  of  snow 
carried  on  top  of  the  shovel  is  considerable,  and  the 

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SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 

weight  of  a  drift  when  the  shovel  is  pushed  into  and 
under  it  is  so  great  that  a  special  truck  is  used  with  jour- 
nals on  the  inside  and  outside  of  each  wheel  to  keep  the 
wheels  from  running  hot.  This  weight  of  snow,  of 
course,  also  bears  on  the  mid  rib  which  must  be  made 
of  a  heavy  beam  of  the  toughest  kind  of  wood.  A  spe- 
cial heavy  middle  beam  or  power  bar  is  laid  between 
the  middle  sills  of  the  car  from  end  to  end,  the  draw  bar 
being  on  the  rear  end  and  the  front  end  framed  against 
the  mid  rib  of  the  nose  of  the  plow. 

The  rear  part  of  the  Russell  plow  is  a  little  narrower 
than  the  front,  so  that  the  snow  does  not  crowd  so  close 
as  it  otherwise  would.  The  doors  are  at  the  sides  and 
rear  end,  and  open  into  a  narrow  end  room.  One  inside 
door  opens  from  this  rear  room  into  the  main  room 
where  the  wing  gears  and  compressed  air  cylinders  are 
set.  There  is  a  stove,  fuel  box  and  tool  box  in  this  room. 
A  short  stairway  leads  to  the  cupola  or  lookout,  which 
has  seats  for  two,  one  seat  on  each  side  behind  a  small 
lever  which  controls  the  movement  of  the  wing.  There 
are  side  windows  and  front  port  windows  in  this  cupola. 
The  nose  of  the  shovel,  the  wings  and  all  parts  against 
which  the  snow  presses  are  armored  with  steel  plates, 
the  outside  surfaces  being  quite  smooth.  The  outside 
of  the  car  is  made  of  dressed  and  matched  lumber  care- 
fully planed  and  varnished  so  as  to  be  as  smooth  as  pos- 
sible to  slip  through  the  snow. 

A  Russell  plow  should  throw  average  snow  over  a 
fence  50  ft.  from  the  center  line  of  track  when  going  50 
miles  an  hour.  Such  speed  is  of  course  not  always  safe, 
especially  in  hard  or  old  snow  where  ice  may  have 
formed  over  the  rail.  A  Russell  plow  off  the  track  is 
usually  a  serious  proposition.  In  the  first  place  the 

111 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


opening-  of  the  road  for  traffic  depends  on  the  plow's 
performance.  If  derailed,  traffic  may  be  held  up  and  the 
track  department  may  be  powerless  to  help  without  the 
plow.  Again,  in  snowy  weather,  re-railing  any  car  is  not 
easy.  The  re-railing  frogs  must  be  spiked  to  prevent  slip- 
ping and  snow  must  be  brushed  away  at  every  move  to 
see  what  is  next  to  be  done.  Tools  are  easily  lost  in  snow 
and  slippery  rails  add  to  the  trouble.  The  Russell  plow 
sets  close  to  the  rail.  It  is  very  heavy  in  front  and  hard 
to  get  under  or  to  see  under  unless  one  can  look  through 
the  "peek"  doors  at  the  sides  of  the  front  truck.  The  wings 
are  close  to  the  rail  and  may  be  jammed  or  knocked 
loose  when  the  plow  is  derailed.  In  fact,  great  care  must 
be  used  when  backing  a  Russell  plow  around  a  wye  or 
over  switches  on  curves  to  be  sure  that  the  heels  of  the 
closed  wings  do  not  strike  guard  rails,  crossing  plank  or 
other  objects  outside  the  rails.  The  modern  Russell 
plow  is  a  big  car.  It  is  heavy  and  hard  to  re-rail.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  very  strong,  and  will  stand  a  lot  of 
hard  use  without  serious  harm,  if  properly  handled. 

The  Russell  plow  is  made  for  single-track  and  for  dou- 
ble-track and  in  various  sizes  and  styles,  with  and  with- 
out compressed  air  for  wings  and  flanges. 

The  single  track  plowr  is  made  to  throw  snow  each 
way  from  the  center  of  the  track.  Right  and  left-hand 
double-track  plows  are  also  made,  which  throw  to  one 
side  only.  The  power  bar  of  the  Russell  plow  and  of  all 
other  first-class  push  plows  has  a  side  play  of  a  few 
inches  at  the  rear  end  to  allow  for  free  movement  around 
curves,  the  amount  depending  on  length  of  car  and  sharp- 
ness of  curve.  Wood  alcohol  for  freeing  window  and 
port  hole  glass  from  frost  should  always  be  carried  on 
a  snow  plow  as  well  as  flags,-  torpedoes,  coal,  bell  cord, 

112 


SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 

brooms,  snow  shovels,  picks,  axes,  bars,  spike  mauls, 
track  gage  and  rail  fastenings,  lanterns,  wicks  and 
matches.  It  is  a  continual  problem  to  keep  the  necessary 
articles  in  a  snowplow.  It  is  curious  that  snowplow 
tools  are  generally  looked  upon,  even  by  trackmen,  as 
common  property,  and  men  who  would  not  think  of  tak- 
ing a  tool  from  a  section  car  house  will  get  articles  out 
of  a  plow  and  neglect  to  return  them,  especially  during 
the  off  season.  The  surest  way  of  keeping  snowplow 
tools  is  to  make  one  man  responsible  for  them  and  have 
them  removed  to  the  car  house  at  the  end  of  the  season. 
Although  push  plows  may  be  run  over  the  road  in  times 
of  heavy  storms  in  front  of  passenger  trains,  while  all 
other  trains  are  tied  up,  there  is  still  danger,  if  the  storm 
is  severe  or  if  a  plow  should  meet  with  an  accident, 
of  tying  up  the  road.  The  very  surest  aid  to  a  train  is 
to  have  a  plow  attached  to  its  locomotive. 

Pilot  Plows. — Pilot  plows  have  been  used  on  Ameri- 
can railways  for  many  years.  These  plows  are  of  vari- 
ous designs  and  sizes  and  are  used  in  different  ways, 
depending  on  the  snow  expected  and  the  depth  of  the 
drifts  usually  to  be  removed.  Pilot  plows  are  ordinarily 
made  of  sheet-iron  over  a  frame  of  oak.  Sometimes  the 
plow  is  fastened  in  front  of  the  locomotive  pilot.  It  is  often 
used  to  make  special  trips  to  keep  the  road  or  yards 
open  for  other  engines  and  trains.  But  the  best  place 
for  a  pilot  plow  is  close  to  the  pony  truck  of  the  engine ; 
and  if  pilot  plows  are  to  be  used  at  all  the  surest  way 
is  to  equip  every  engine  with  a  plow  by  removing  the 
pilot  in  autumn,  putting  the  snowplow  in  its  place  and 
leaving  it  there  until  spring.  A  first-class  pilot  plow  of 
this  sort  is  shown  in  Figure  14. 

The  outside  flanger  is  worked  by  a  hand  lever  from 

113 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


the  engine  cab.  This  hand  lever  is  much  better  than  the 
compressed  air  lever,  for  it  is  surer  to  the  touch.  The 
outside  flanger  is  where  it  can  most  easily  be  reached 
for  road  repairs.  Extra  shoes  are  carried  on  the  engine 
and  may  be  bolted  on  in  a  few  minutes.  The  dust  doors 

ISm 


Fig.  13 — Elevation  of  D.  S.   S.  &  A.  Pilot  Plow. 

permit  dust  to  blow  out  instead  of  fouling  the  truck  when 
the  track  is  bare.  The  flare  of  the  wings  is  important 
in  throwing  snow.  A  poor  pilot  plow  is  worse  than 
none.  With  every  locomotive  on  a  division  equipped 
with  a  good  pilot  plow,  only  severe  storms  of  late  win- 
ter require  the  use  of  other  snowplows  except  in  ex- 

114 


SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 


ceptional  cases  and  climates.     The  pilot  plow  shown  in 
Fig.  13  will   handle   snow    up   to    3   or  4    ft.  deep.     Pro- 


This  leaf  made  of  /" 
boiler  plate 


This  leaf  made  of  4' old  spring  steel' 


Fig.  14— Plan  of  D.  S.   S.  &  A.  Pilot  Plow. 

vision  must  be  made  in  all  snowplows  to  guard  against 
breakage  in  backing  up.     It  is  always  possible  to  pro- 

115 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


116 


SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 


vide  reverse  guards  or  shoes  to  keep  snow  from  crowd- 
ing under  and  breaking  the  wings  or  getting  under  the 
wheels. 

Flangers. — Flangers  also  are  of  many  makes  and  kinds. 
All  are  meant  to  clear  snow  from  a  space  inside  the  rail 
so  that  the  flanges  of  car  wheels  will  have  room  to  travel 
without  being  crowded  with  snow  and  ice.  The  usual 


Fig.  16— View  Underneath  Single-Track  Flanger. 

width  cleared  by  a  flanger  is  10  to  12  inches  inside  each 
rail.  Flangers  are  steel  knives  or  scrapers  set  at  an 
angle  across  the  track  inside  the  rail,  so  that  they  can 
be  raised  and  lowered  by  the  operator  to  pass  over  cross- 
ings, cattle  guards  and  switches.  Some  flangers  are  set 
just  in  front  of  the  pony  truck  wheels  of  the  engine,  be- 
tween the  pilot  and  the  front  wheels,  and  fastened  to  the 

117 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


truck.  Others  are  fastened  under  the  middle  of  a  snow- 
plow  body,  to  clear  the  flanges  as  soon  as  the  plow  has 
passed,  for  the  push  plow  will  leave  the  space  between 
the  rails  full  of  snow  to  the  rail  heads.  As  recent  prac- 
tice has  proved  the  economy  of  putting  all  the  machinery 
possible  outside  the  engine  drivers  instead  of  under  and 
between  the  wheels ;  so  it  has  been  shown  to  be  best  to 


Fig.  17 — View  of  Double-Track  Flanger. 

have  flangers  outside  where  they  can  most  easily  be 
reached  and  repaired.  When  carried  on  special  beams  or 
mold  boards  under  plows  or  spreader  cars,  these  beams 
should  be  so  placed  that  the  flangers  are  easy  to  get  at 
to  repair.  Ice  cutters  made  of  tee  rails  with  deep  notched 
teeth  like  a  reaper  blade  are  sometimes  used  on  flanger 
beams  to  cut  high  snow  and  ice  from  the  center  of  the 
track. 

Rotary  Snow  Plows. — The  rotary  snowplow  is  made  of 
a  covered  car  containing  engine  and  boilers,  with  a  long 
shaft,  on  the  front  end  of  which  is  a  wheel  with  spokes 

118 


SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 

carrying  fans,  the  whole  wheel  working  inside  a  steel 
hood  furnished  with  chutes  for  throwing  the  snow.  (See 
Figure  18.  The  wheel  of  the  rotary  plow  has  hollow 
scoops  of  steel  plate,  funnel  shaped  and  arranged  on  the 
spokes.  Two  knife-edged  cutters  are  linked  together  be- 
tween each  two  funnels.  The  hood  of  the  rotary  is 
square  in  front  with  a  cutting  edge  only  a  few  inches 


Fig.    18 — Rotary    Snow   Plow   with   Housing   Removed. 

above  the  rail.  The  center  of  the  wheel  extends  beyond 
the  hood,  but  the  rim  is  3  or  4  inches  inside.  The  wheel 
turns  about  200  times  a  minute  and  when  it  is  pushed 
into  the  snow  the  knives  cut  the  snow,  which  is  then 
thrown  by  the  funnel-shaped  plates  as  the  wheel  re- 
volves, to  an  opening  or  chute  in  the  hood.  This  open- 
ing can  be  changed  by  an  adjustable  cover  so  as  to  throw 
snow  to  the  right  or  left,  according  to  the  direction  of 
the  wind,  or  to  the  place  desired  by  the  operator  of  the 
plow.  The  top  of  the  hood  is  curved  down  to  keep  the 
snow  from  flying  up,  so  the  operator  can  see  ahead  from 
the  upper  side  window.  Some  rotary  plows  have  ice 
cutters  in  front  of  the  front  wheels  of  the  lead  truck  and 

119 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


flangers  behind  the  trailing  wheels.  The  operator  who 
runs  the  plow,  also  runs  the  flanger  and  ice  cutter  by 
air;  or,  if  the  air  fails,  he  can  run  them  by  steam.  In 
very  heavy  drifts,  say  12  to  16  ft.  high,  a  rotary  plow  will 
go  only  2  to  3  miles  an  hour ;  while  in  2  to  3  ft.  of  snow 
it  will  go  12  to  15  miles  an  hour,  the  speed  depending  on 
the  amount  of  snow  handled.  The  chute  throws  a  stream 
of  snow  about  4  ft.  in  diameter  and  it  will  throw  snow  of 
medium  weight  100  to  150  ft.,  and  is  powerful  enough  to 
cut  anything  but  solid  ice. 

A  rotary-plow  operator  must  be  careful  to  handle 
snow  so  as  not  to  injure  property  or  persons.  Hard 
lumps  of  snow  or  ice,  or  pieces  of  coal  sometimes  go 
through  the  chute  with  great  force.  Almost  anything 
found  in  a  snow  drift  will  go  through  the  wheel  and 
and  chute,  and  it  is  dangerous  to  stand  anywhere  near  a 
rotary  on  the  throwing  side. 

The  Snow  Crab. — A  useful  machine  to  run  over  a  track 
before  using  a  rotary  plow  is  the  snow  crab.  This  is  a 
device  for  pulling  hard  snow  from  the  sides  of  narrow- 
ing cuts  through  drifts,  to  the  center  of  the  track  (See 
Figure  18),  where  the  rotary  plow  can  reach  and  throw 
it  clear  of  the  right-of-way.  Imagine  a  plow  shaped  like 
the  letter  "V"  but  with  the  two  sides  hinged  one-third 
of  the  way  back  from  the  nose,  while  the  nose  is  left  off, 
the  two  sides  being  loose  at  that  point  from  each  other. 
The  open  edges  are  shod  with  steel  cutting-plates  and 
the  device,  framed  at  the  end  of  a  car,  is  pulled  behind 
the  car,  the  wings  being  opened  to  cut  the  snow  as  wide 
as  needed  on  each  side,  and  to  guide  it  into  the  middle  of 
the  track  behind  the  car  for  the  following  rotary  to'  pick 
up.  A  variety  of  the  snow  crab  machine  has  a  wing  ex- 
tension at  the  nose  end  which  guides  the  snow  from  the 

120 


SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 


center  on  across  the  track  if  necessary,  so  that  snow  re- 
moved from  the  right  hand  side  may  be  left  on  the  left 
hand  side  of  the  track.  The  rotary  plow  and  snow  crab 


Half  Sectional  Plan  Showing  Floor  Timbers.  Half  S«c  tion 

Fig.   19 — Plan  and  Elevation  of  Snow  Crab. 

may  be  used  economically  to  clear  snow  from  yard  tracks 
as  well  as  on  the  line. 

Clam  Shell  and  Locomotive  Crane. — Snow  may  be 
handled  from  between  tracks  with  a  special  snow  clam 
shell  and  a  locomotive  crane.  The  long  boom  of  the 
crane  will  reach  over  three  or  four  tracks  and  will  put 

121 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


snow  far  in  the  clear  in  yards  where  it  cannot  be  easily 
disposed  of  in  any  other  way.  The  bucket  can  easily  be 
made  in  any  shop,  the  gear  of  the  ordinary  clam  shell 
being  used.  The  ridges  of  snow  left  between  tracks  can 
often  be  handled  in  no  other  way  except  by  clam  shell 
and  crane  or  by  road  train  and  extra  gang.  The  clam 
shell  makes  a  very  clean  job  of  snow  handling,  as  it  drops 
open  and  closes  tight. 

Spreader. — If  two  or  more  yard  tracks  can  be  cleared 
of  cars  at  one  time,  snow  may  be  quickly  "spread"  from 
one  track  to  the  next,  until  the  entire  yard  is  clear. 

A  spreader  is  a  long  wing  hinged  to  a  flat  car  or  box 
car  and  well  braced  to  stand  the  strain  of  pushing  snow 
off  the  tracks.  Ballast  spreaders  may  be  used  for  snow 
handling.  The  Jordan  spreader  is  used  by  some  railway 
companies  and  is  especially  good  either  for  ballast  or 
snow.  When  snow  is  heavy  two  spreaders  are  sometimes 
used,  a  short  one  ahead  to  clear  one  track  and  a  long  one 
following  to  clear  two  tracks  at  the  same  time. 

In  late  winter  hard,  icy  piles  of  snow  are  sometimes 
formed  by  continued  spreading  of  snow  to  a  certain  line 
beyond  the  outside  yard  tracks.  These  piles  or  ridges  of 
snow  may  be  moved  back  by  a  ditching  machine.  The 
dipper  should  first  be  taken  to  the  shops  and  the  outside 
plate  and  teeth  taken  off,  and  a  ^-in.  steel  plate,  as  long 
as  possible,  riveted  on  in  its  place  to  increase  the  shovel's 
capacity.  The  plate  can  be  as  long  as  the  spud  will  al- 
low. The  ditcher  is  used  on  a  flat  car  and  will  throw 
snow  back  13  ft.  It  is  slow  and  sloppy,  but  will  move 
icy  ridges  that  nothing  else  but  pick  and  shovel  will  han- 
dle, and  will  do  the  work  of  50  men  when  properly 
equipped  and  manned. 

A  most  effective   and  economical  device  for  clearing 

122 


SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 

tracks  of  snow  and  ice  is  a  system  of  steam  pipes  hung 
from  the  pilot  beam  of  a  locomotive,  shown  in  Figures  20 
and  21. 

This  device  is  especially  designed  for  use  in  yards  and 
on  tracks  within  the  limits  of  switch  leads  and  inter- 
lockers.  The  pipe  reductions  are  so  made  as  to  obtain 
the  proper  force  in  the  steam  jets  and  the  jets  must  be 
placed  as  near  the  rail  as  possible  to  be  most  effective. 
The  pipes  must  also  be  at  the  proper  angle  and  so  spaced 
as  to  give  the  best  results.  This  appliance  is  especially 
valuable  at  night  when  it  is  difficult  for  section  men  to 
see  and  work  effectively  among  switches  in  yards.  With 
well  drained  switch  leads,  no  difficulty  should  be  ex- 
perienced in  thus  clearing  tracks  of  snow  and  ice  except 
in  extremely  cold  weather. 

Moderate  snow  falls  may  be  handled  at  a  speed  of 
four  to  six  miles  per  hour.  Ice  must  be  handled  at  very 
slow  speed.  If  the  steam  rises  so  as  to  obscure  the  tracks, 
the  engineman  must  shut  off  steam  after  clearing  a  switch 
lead  or  a  certain  short  length  of  track,  till  a  view  is  ob- 
tained of  the  next  switch  or  short  section  to  be  cleared, 
when  it  may  again  be  turned  on  for  a  few  minutes. 
After  a  day's  practice  any  engineman  will  become  so 
well  accustomed  to  this  method  of  switch  cleaning  that 
he  can  with  this  appliance  do  the  work  of  a  large  gang 
of  laborers  at  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  total  of  their 
wages. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  any  device 
which  melts  the  snow  and  ice  in  tracks  is  impracticable 
in  extremely  low  temperatures,  because  the  water  will 
freeze  before  it  can  run  off,  even  with  good  drainage. 
When  snow  is  banked  upon  each  side  of  the  track,  the 
best  of  drainage  is  ineffective  in  severe  freezing  weather. 

123 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


124 


SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 


Cleaning  Up  Behind  Plow. — Snow  and  ice  cannot  all 
be  handled  mechanically.  After  plowing,  the  snow  left 
in  the  middle  of  the  track  must  be  shoveled  by  hand, 


tr7& 


Fig.  21 — Details  of  Steam  Blower  for  Cleaning  Out  Snow  and  Ice. 

especially  in  switch  leads,  on  highway  crossings,  railway 
crossings,  through  interlockers,  and  around  cars  snowed 
in  on  side  tracks. 

The  trackman  must  be  very  careful  to  keep  snow  and 

125 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


ice  cleared  from  switch  points.  \Vheri  snow  blows,  it 
packs  hard  with  the  movement  of  switch  rails  between 
stock  rail  and  switch  points.  Continuous  work  with  pick, 
shovel,  spud  and  broom  is  frequently  necessary  to  keep 
switches  in  shape  for  traffic  in  winter.  Drains  must  be 
made  through  snow  banks  to  carry  away  water  from 
melting  snow  before  it  can  freeze  in  the  track.  After  a 
switch  has  been  cleared  of  snowr  it  should  be  thrown  to 
make  sure  it  can  be  operated.  Ground  switch  stands  or 
stands  with  the  working  parts  close  to  the  ground  are 
unsuitable  for  sno\vy  localities.  Section  foremen  should 
know  of  proposed  movements  of  snow  plows,  so  they 
may  do  their  part  of  snow  removal  as  soon  as  possible 
after  a  plow  has  started  over  their  tracks.  It  is  a  good 
plan  to  have  enough  trackmen  with  a  snowplow  to  help 
in  handling  it,  to  shovel  it  clear,  if  stuck  in  a  drift,  and 
to  work  the  wings  in  case  compressed  air  is  not  used. 
Plows  often  get  off  the  track.  Trackmen  are  needed  to 
help  in  rerailing  plows  and  their  engines,  and  to  repair 
track  which  is  out  of  commission  on  account  of  derail- 
ments. For  the  best  results  local  trackmen,  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  country,  the  climate  and  the  tracks  are 
needed.  Strong,  long-handled  snow  shovels  should  be 
provided  in  plenty.  Snow  shoveling  needs  planning, 
though  it  looks  easy.  An  experienced  snow  shoveler 
cuts  the  snow  into  cubes  with  his  shovel,  and  lands  the 
snow  with  one  throw  where  it  need  not  be  moved  again, 
and  where  it  will  not  be  in  the  way  of  other  snow  han- 
dled later,  unless  there  is  so  much  snow  or  so  little  room 
that  double  handling  is  known  to  be  unavoidable. 

With  the  best  of  management,  a  great  deal  of  snow 
shoveled  in  large  yards  must  be  handled  twice,  and  in  a 
X'ery  severe  winter  some  of  it  is  handled  oftener.  The 

126 


SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 

best  way  is  to  make  plans  for  proper  handling  of  the 
average  amount  of  snow  and  ice  to  be  expected  during  a 
winter  season  and  to  haul  away  the  first  heavy  snow 
rather  than  the  last. 

Snow  shovelers  should  not  be  allowed  to  work  too 
close  together  in  heavy  drifts  but  should  be  spaced  and 
kept  spaced  according  to  the  work  to  be  done.  One 
cleanup  man  to  a  certain  number  of  shovelers  is  needed 
around  buildings  to  make  a  clean  job.  Foremen  should 
not  neglect  icicles  which  form  on  eaves  of  railway  build- 
ings and  which  endanger  all  who  pass  under  them.  It 
is  well  to  pick  out  more  than  one  place  after  a  storm 
where  snow  shoveling  can  be  done  in  a  yard,  so  that  in 
case  of  any  interruption,  such  as  switching,  the  gang  can 
be  shifted  from  one  place  to  another  and  kept  at  work. 

Handling  a  Push  Plow. — Handling  snow  with  a  push 
plow  requires  judgment.  There  must  be  suitable  power 
behind  the  plow,  and  proper  understanding  with  train  dis- 
patchers. Reports  of  all  obstacles  met,  of  weather  conditions, 
of  conditions  of  main  tracks,  passing  and  other  tracks, 
should  be  sent  promptly  and  worded  clearly.  It  is  dan- 
gerous to  rush  a  plow  into  a  snow  drift  without  knowing 
what  is  under  the  snow,  unless  there  is  no  chance  of  ice. 
It  is  best  to  shovel  the  track  rails  clear  to  a  face  of  about 
two  feet  of  snow  before  sending  the  plow  into  it.  This 
takes  some  little  time  but  it  saves  wrecks  and  derailments 
and  injury  to  equipment,  if  not  loss  of  life.  A  certain 
knowledge  of  clearances  will  save  time  in  plowing  and 
the  time  of  track  gangs  who  shovel  snow  where  the  snow 
plow  wings  cannot  be  opened.  There  are  driveways, 
cleaned  switch  leads,  and  hand-shoveled  side  tracks  on 
nearly  every  trip,  which  may  or  may  not  be  filled  with 
snow  according  to  the  way  in  which  snow  plow  wings 

127 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


are  handled.  A  good  operator  on  a  snow  plow  is  a  valu- 
able labor  saver  if  he  knows  his  road  and  uses  his  knowl- 
edge of  clearances  and  snow  conditions.  The  dispatcher 
may  make  or  mar  a  snow  plow  trip.  He  should  know  the 
conditions  as  well  as  the  snow  plow  operator,  and  he 
should  be  allowed  to  give  the  plow  the  preference  neces- 
sary to  clear  the  tracks  for  traffic.  It  is  usually  necessary 
to  sacrifice  some  of  the  time  of  regular  trains  in  favor  of 
the  snowplow.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  plow 
is  being  run  so  that  trains  may  make  schedule  time  after 
the  plow  has  passed  over  the  line.  If  the  tracks  need 
plowing  at  all,  they  should  be  plowed  quickly  and  well, 
and  this  can  only  be  done  by  giving  the  plow  the  pref- 
erence due  a  special  train. 

Rerailing  frogs  that  can  be  held  to  the  rail  are  handy 
to  have  on  a  snow  plow.  They  will  soon  pay  for  their 
cost  in  case  of  derailments  on  snowy  tracks.  The  time 
lost  in  scraping  away  snow  and  spiking  rerailing  frogs 
to  the  ties  is  time  wasted,  not  only  for  those  with  the 
plow  but  for  all  who  are  waiting  for  it  to  clear  the  tracks. 

Clearing  Yards. — In  yards,  the  work  of  clearing  sid- 
ings on  which  are  cars  that  have  been  snowed  in,  is  neces- 
sarily slow.  It  is  much  better  to  take  out  one  car  at  a 
time  safely  than  to  attempt  to  pull  out  a  train  and  get 
off  the  track.  In  deep  snow,  the  switch  engine  may  not 
be  able  to  reach  the  first  car.  When  the  engine  has  been 
forced  as  close,  as  possible,  the  snow  between  the  engine 
and  the  car  is  shoveled  clear,  so  that  the  coupling  can  be 
made  to  four  or  five  cars,  or  as  many  as  can  be  moved 
back  and  forth  a  few  feet  at  a  time  until  the  snow  falls 
off  the  wheels  and  trucks  to  some  extent.  These  cars 
are  then  pulled  out  of  the  siding  and  the  next  few  cars 
are  gone  after,  given  a  shaking  and  pulled  free,  and  so  on. 

128 


SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 

Empty  cars  often  have  to  be  handled  one  at  a  time.  They 
are  so  light  that  they  easily  jump  the  track  and  must  be 
carefully  handled.  After  a  "snowed  in"  track  is  freed  of 
cars,  it  is  full  of  snow  between  the  rails  and  should  be 
plowed  and  flanged  out. 

Preparing  the  Snow  Plow. — Before  a  plow  or  flanger 
is  taken  out,  it  should  be  thoroughly  cleared  of  snow,  in- 
spected and  tried.  Complaints  that  a  beam  flanger,  built 
on  a  flat  car,  and  air  operated,  would  not  lower  properly, 
have  been  caused  on  account  of  tools  which  had  been  left 
under  the  beam  in  the  snow.  All  snow  plow  parts  should 
be  cleared  of  snow  before  starting  on  any  trip. 

A  Russell  plow  with  air  worked  wings  needs  no  track 
men  when  everything  goes  well,  but  a  wheel  off  the  track 
is  a  serious  matter,  for  the  forward  truck  is  so  boxed  in 
with  the  plow  body  that  it  is  hard  to  get  to  it.  Help  is 
also  needed  when  the  plow  sticks  in  drifts  or  must  wait 
till  a  face  is  shoveled  in  the  snow  at  cut  ends.  The  rotary 
plow  is  a  powerful  machine,  but  a  few  men  should  be  car- 
ried with  it  to  assist  in  case  anything  goes  wrong;  and 
this  applies  to  any  other  snow  fighting  machine. 

Extra  Men. — Most  northern  railways  have  less  track- 
men, and  pay  less  for  a  day's  work  in  winter  than  during 
other  seasons  of  the  year.  The  hardest  snow  storms 
come  when  there  is  the  least  number  of  men  on  hand. 
Many  extra  men  must  be  hired  for  the  work.  These  men 
know  little  of  what  is  expected  of  them  and  the  company 
loses  money  because  it  is  hard  for  foremen  to  oversee  all 
the  work  that  must  be  done.  It  costs  a  company  very 
little  extra  money  to  give  the  best  regular  men  of  a  gang 
the  summer  wage  for  acting  as  assistant  foremen  over 
small  squads  of  green  hands  hired  to  help  handle  snow 
and  ice  during  winter  storms,  and  the  money  is  so  well 

129 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


spent  that  few  railway  officers  will  refuse  such  an  ar- 
rangement when  explained  to  them,  if  authority  can  be 
obtained. 

It  is  worth  while  for  a  foreman  to  spend  some  time  and 
thought  in  locating  the  homes  of  men  who  want  work  in 
winter  and  in  finding  out  how  to  get  them  on  the  job 
quickly.  It  is  to  the  company's  interest  to  hold  men  who 
can  hire  laborers  on  short  notice,  and  who  can  pick  out 
good  men  from  the  unemployed.  Any  scheme  for  keeping 
men  within  easy  and  quick  reach  in  case  of  emergency 
should  be  encouraged.  A  good  foreman  will  have  the 
names  and  addresses  of  extra  men  and  will  have  his  regu- 
lar men  bunched  where  he  can  get  them  in  the  shortest 
time  possible  at  any  time  of  day  or  night,  on  Sundays  or 
holidays.  All  trackmen  know  that  wrecks  and  storms 
have  a  way  of  occurring  at  week  ends  and  on  holidays, 
when  the  least  watching  is  done  and  when  many  regular 
employes  are  on  leave  or  absent  from  duty.  The  foreman 
who  can  round  up  his  men  quickest  is  the  most  valuable  to 
his  company,  and  particular  attention  should  be  paid  to 
this  duty.  The  track  foreman,  like  the  captain  of  a  fire 
department,  is  expected  to  be  always  ready  for  duty.  To 
be  properly  ready  he  must  know  how  to  get  men  and 
tools  in  service  quickly  and  if  he  wants  promotion,  he 
cannot  do  better  than  to  think  out  for  himself  how  best 
to  do  this.  It  is  not  easy  always  to  get  men  to  work  in 
bad  storms,  but  some  foremen  do  it  where  others  fail.  Tact 
and  care  are  necessary  and  well  worth  while.  A  foreman 
who  has  a  following  of  laborers  who  will  do  a  fair  day's 
work  is  usually  successful.  The  foreman  is  the  go-be- 
tween of  capital  and  of  labor.  He  must  be  honest  and 
shrewd  to  succeed. 

Comfort  of  Trackmen. — In  winter  weather  the  bodily 

130 


SNOW-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 

comfort  of  men  at  work  out  of  doors  is  an  important  con- 
sideration. Steaming  hot  tea  or  coffee,  made  on  the 
snow  plow  stove,  has  saved  the  day  in  many  a  snow  fight. 
Arrangements  for  meals  should  never  be  lost  sight  of, 
and  cars  should  be  placed  at  night  where  the  men's  rest 
will  not  be  broken. 

Signals. — The  most  important  thing  in  plowing  snow  is 
to  have  a  perfect  system  of  signaling  from  plow  to  loco- 
motive. Everything  depends  on  the  signals.  No  experi- 
enced snow  fighter  will  start  until  he  has  actually  run 
through  his  list  of  signals  with  the  train  and  engine  crews, 
and  tried  them  out. 

Safety. — In  case  of  accident  the  safety  of  the  snow  plow 
crew  depends  largely  on  the  way  in  which  tools,  stove, 
fuel  and  all  loose  articles  are  handled  in  the  plow.  All 
these  things  should  be  fastened  in  some  way,  so  they  can- 
not fall  about  if  a  plow  turns  over.  Tool  and  coal  boxes 
should  be  made  very  strong  and  kept  closed  and  latched 
or  locked.  The  larger  tools  can  be  set  in  locking  racks. 
The  jacks  and  rerailing  frogs  can  be  set  in  heavy  iron- 
barred,  built-in  boxes.  Fuel  boxes  should  preferably  be 
built  into  the  car,  and  be  strong  enough  to  hold  together 
if  tipped  over  when  full  or  partly  filled  with  fuel.  The 
stove  should  be  fastened  in  place  as  strongly  as  possible. 

All  these  precautions  will  do  little  good  unless  some- 
one makes  it  his  particular  business  to  see  that  tools  and 
fuel  are  in  their  proper  places  at  all  times  and  that  racks 
and  boxes  are  properly  closed. 

Every  trackman  knows  of  ways  to  get  his  work  done 
best  and  easiest  on  his  own  particular  job.  His  acquaint- 
ance with  people  and  country,  with  the  equipment  and 
the  tools  at  hand,  enables  him  to  get  more  done  in  a  day 
than  a  stranger.  There  is  always  room  for  improvement 

131 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


in  the  ways  of  doing  work.  Every  improvement  is  money 
and  time  and  work  saved.  Every  trackman  will  be  worth 
more  to  his  company  if  he  studies  these  things  and  im- 
proves on  his  ways  of  caring  for  track. 


132 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
SPRING  FLOODS. 

High  water,  caused  by  the  sudden  melting  of  snow, 
which  frequently  goes  off  with  heavy  rains,  is  a  cause 
of  anxiety  to  trackmen  of  northern  railways.  Serious 
trouble  often  results  from  washouts  and  landslides  indi- 
rectly due  to  various  causes.  If  the  ground  is  frozen 
hard,  rain  or  melting  snow  must  all  run  off  instead  of 
partially  soaking  into  the  ground.  A  warm  rain  takes 
off  the  snow  very  suddenly,  and  a  water  shed,  which  or- 
dinarily causes  no  trouble,  may  send  a  deluge  of  water  in 
a  few  hours  to  culverts  and  bridges  which  are  too  small 
to  take  care  of  it. 

Inspection. — Log  jams,  ice  gorges,  floating  stumps,  old 
ties  and  other  refuse  must  be  watched.  Beaver  dams, 
crayfish  holes,  muskrat  holes,  changes  of  channels,  the 
breaking  of  dykes  and  opening  of  spillways  must  be 
reckoned  with.  Often  these  troubles  start  some  distance 
away  from  the  railway  company's  property.  Without 
notice  a  log  jam  or  ice  gorge  may  be  dynamited,  or  the 
water  may  be  released  from  behind  a  dam  out  of  sight 
of  the  railway,  in  order  to  save  other  property.  Some 
change  of  channel  or  newly  dredged  ditch  may  throw 
much  more  water  to  a  railway  waterway  than  has  ever 
gone  through  it  before.  Landslides  may  occur  on  ac- 
count of  the  frost  going  out  of  slopes  while  heavy  rains 
are  falling. 

At  this  time  of  year,  the  tracks  are  not  only  on  high 
shims  in  many  spots,  but  these  shims  must  be  changed 
daily  to  keep  the  tracks  in  the  best  condition.  Broken 

133 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


rails  must  be  watched  for  most  diligently  under  such 
conditions.  The  closest  and  most  thorough  track  patrol 
is  necessary  to  prevent  accidents  to  trains.  A  washout 
or  landslide  is  serious  enough  when  it  obstructs  a  track, 
and  ties  up  traffic.  It  is  doubly  regrettable  if  cars  or 
locomotives  are  derailed  in  consequence.  The  best  of 
track  walkers  and  plenty  of  them,  the  closest  attention  to 
shims  and  track,  promptness  in  answering  emergency 
calls,  the  provision  of  emergency  materials  such  as 
bridge  timber  and  piling  on  cars,  sand  bags,  riprap  stone, 
dynamite  with  electric  batteries  and  long  wires  for  firing 
the  charges,  pike  poles  and  ice  spuds,  should  all  be 
thought  of  and  arranged  for  before  the  break  up  of  win- 
ter. 

The  closest  scrutiny  of  all  waterways  is  needed  when 
streams  and  lakes  are  rising,  and  especially  when  the 
currents  of  water  are  rapid,  or  when  water  backs  up 
against  railway  banks.  A  very  small  leak  may  cause  a 
bank  to  soften  from  beneath  while  it  looks  perfectly  safe 
on  top.  The  track  may  be  undermined  from  some  seep- 
age along  a  pipe  or  at  the  side  of  a  box  culvert  or  behind 
the  backing  of  a  bridge  abutment,  before  any  settlement 
shows  in  the  track;  and  a  train  may  take  the  whole  struc- 
ture down  with  it  into  the  water  without  a  moment's 
warning.  It  is  well  for  trackmen  to  examine  most  care- 
fully the  action  of  water  above  and  below  the  track,  to 
look  for  any  water  seeping  through  the  banks  or  outside 
of  culvert  walls,  and  to  report  all  suspicious  looking 
cases  by  telegraph.  Even  if  a  bridge  foreman  is  put 
to  unnecessary  trouble  a  few  times  and  assisted  in  pre- 
venting only  one  washout  through  such  care  on  the  part 
of  the  trackmen,  much  has  been  gained. 

Conditions  Adjacent  to  Right-of-Way. — Knowing  what 

134 


SPRING  FLOODS 


is  going  on  in  the  community  about  him  is  part  of  a 
track  foreman's  duty.  He  should  make  it  a  point  to  know 
about  all  enterprises  of  farmers  and  others  which  might 
affect  the  waterways  of  the  railway  company.  Dredging 
and  ditching,  sewer  building,  dam  construction,  and  the 
changing  of  water  channels  should  be  promptly  reported. 

Trenches  through  snow  banks  and  at  the  outlets  of 
ditches  in  cuts  are  needed  for  drainage  and  should  be 
dug  early.  All  places  where  ditching  seems  needed 
should  be  reported  so  they  may  be  attended  to  before 
the  next  winter.  High  water  marks  should  be  made  at 
all  waterways  as  a  matter  of  record. 

Washouts. — If  a  washout  occurs,  the  quickest  way  to 
get  the  track  in  service  again  is  usually  to  crib  it  up  on 
ties  or  bridge  timber  provided  the  water  subsides  quickly. 
If  it  stays  high,  filling  with  stone  or  sand  bags  may  be 
best.  The  stone  fill  is  permanent,  while  the  bags  of 
sand  are  only  temporary,  and  the  timber  cribs  must 
be  renewed  later,  Sand  bags  should  be  filled  only  three- 
quarters  full,  so  as  to  lie  flat  against  each  other.  The 
proper  way  to  fasten  sand  bags  after  filling  is  to  sew 
the  top  end  with  sail  needle  and  twine.  Gunny  sacks 
are  larger  and  no  more  expensive  than  cement  sacks,  and 
unless  the  sand  is  very  fine,  the  gunny  sack  is  the  better 
proposition. 

When  water,  having  no  outlet,  gets  higher  on  one  side 
of  a  railway  bank  than  on  the  opposite  side,  there  is 
danger,  for  water  always  seeks  its  own  level.  If  it  over- 
flows the  track  the  bank  will  probably  be  cut  out.  In 
such  cases,  ridges  of  filling  along  the  top  of  the  bank 
outside  the  rail,  may  save  the  line;  or  sand  bags  laid 
end  to  end  in  a  row  on  the  shoulder  of  the  bank  may 
be  of  service  to  the  trackmen.  Good  use  should  be 

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made  of  the  telegraph  in  such  cases,  especially  if  ma- 
terials to  mend  a  washout  are  not  at  hand.  Authority 
can  usually  be  had  to  buy  bags  or  other  materials  locally 
if  time  can  thus  be  saved.  The  most  important  thing 
to  do  is  to  act  quickly  whenever  a  washout  threatens. 
When  reporting  conditions,  go  into  details.  If  the  man 
who  must  help  you  must  be  told  by  telegram,  give  him 
enough  correct  news  to  enable  him  to  bring  with  him 
just  what  is  needed.  There  is  no  more  expensive  and 
annoying  predicament  than  a  hurry  call  on  a  vague  re- 
port of  trouble.  The  trackman  has  usually  a  very  good 
idea  of  what  is  needed.  And  he  should  not  fail  to  put 
that  in  the  telegram  and  insist  that  it  be  sent  as  worded. 
The  trackman  is  the  company's  representative  on  the 
section.  On  him  the  company  depends  for  safety.  He 
must  realize  this  and  act  accordingly  to  get  results. 


136 


CHAPTER  IX. 
STORING  ICE. 

Railway  companies  whose  lines  reach  into  cold 
climates  usually  store  their  own  ice  for  all  purposes, 
including  the  icing  of  refrigerator  cars,  passenger 
coaches,  dining  cars,  road  trains,  hotels  at  meal  stations, 
offices  and  depots.  Some  companies  furnish  ice  to  sec- 
tion houses. 

Cost  of  Putting  up  Ice. — The  expenses  involved  are  the 
cost  of  and  taxes  on  land,  on  ice  houses,  ice  chutes, 
equipment  and  tools  for  cutting,  storing  and  delivering 
ice ;  road-train  service,  cars,  side  tracks,  telegraph  sta- 
tions and  operators  in  service  for  ice  harvest  only,  the 
labor  for  the  ice  harvest  and  the  supervision.  There 
must  also  be  debited  a  generous  allowance  for  waste 
of  ice,  between  ice  field  and  loading  chute,  between  car 
and  house,  including  ice  broken  in  transporting,  in  un- 
loading and  in  packing  in  the  storage  house ;  also  waste 
by  melting  in  storage,  in  removal  from  house,  in  break- 
ing for  use,  in  transporting  to  outlying  stations,  and  in 
melting  at  these  stations,  before  being  put  to  the  intended 
use.  Probably  little  more  than  half  the  ice  cut  reaches 
the  consumer  in  railway  service.  This  percentage  seems 
excessive,  but  is  nevertheless  a  fair  average  result. 

The  alternative  is  the  purchase  of  ice  from  contractors 
who  take  better  precaution  against  shrinkage  or  who 
manufacture  ice  as,  it  is  wanted.  The  purchase  must  in- 
clude the  contractor's  profit  and  delivery  expenses. 
Harvesting  and  handling  by  the  railway  company  is 
cheaper,  even  with  all  the  losses,  under  ordinary  condi- 
tions in  the  north. 

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Ice  Storage. — The  storage  of  ice  is  usually  left  to  track- 
department  officers  using  their  own  men  in  extra  gangs, 
or  contractors'  labor  and  equipment.  Some  roads  hire 
contractors  to  work  under  the  roadmasters,  payment  be- 
ing made  by  the  number  of  cords  of  ice  stored  in  the 
companies'  houses,  the  railway  company  furnishing  the 
supervision,  the  ice  in  the  field,  the  boarding  trains 
equipped,  the  ears  and  engines  and  crews,  and  switching 
service  at  storage  houses,  and  the  houses  and  machinery 
for  storing.  Other  roads  do  the  whole  work  with  the 
track  department  forces.  Extra-gang  labor  is  usually 
most  plentiful  in  the  latter  part  of  the  winter,  in  Feb- 
ruary and  March  when  the  ice  is  thickest. 

Location  of  Ice  Houses. — Whenever  possible,  ice 
houses  are  located  on  the  shores  of  the  lakes  or  ponds 
from  which  ice  is  taken.  Inclined  runways  of  wood  ex- 
tend from  the  house  doors  to  the  water,  and  the  best 
power  available  is  used  to  hoist  the  ice  from  the  water 
into  the  store  house,  from  which  it  is  removed  as  needed 
to  cars  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  house. 

Such  an  ideal  arrangement  is  by  no  means  common. 
Frequently  the  company's  best  ice  supply  is  a  lake  or 
dammed  stream  far  off  the  main  line  and  at  a  distance 
from  the  ice  houses  at  division  headquarters.  The  ice, 
especially  drinking-water  ice,  should  be  pure  and  from 
a  spring-fed  source.  The  snow  must  be  kept  scraped 
off  the  ice  while  it  is  forming.  A  heavy  snow  may  other- 
wise sink  the  clear  ice,  forming  a  layer  of  "snow  ice," 
or  a  sudden  warm  spell  may  melt  the  snow,  flood  the  ice 
and  cause  the  formation  of  rough,  opaque  layers  with 
many  air  bubbles. 

Time  to  Start  Cutting. — The  best  of  judgment  must  be 
used  as  to  the  date  of  starting  the  ice  harvest.  The  ice 

138 


STORING  ICE 


must  be  thick  enough  for  packing,  to  start  with,  and 
not  too  thick  at  the  time  of  completing  the  cut.  Where 
enough  confidence  can  be  put  in  the  climate,  the  harvest 
is  not  begun  till  ice  is  10  in.  thick.  It  should  not  be 
more  than  20  in.  thick  at  the  last.  Ice  is  cut  usually  in 
cakes  22  by  44  in. 

Ice  houses  are  cleaned,  and  hay,  straw  or  sawdust 
provided  for  packing  at  the  beginning  of  the  harvest. 
Road  trains,  cooks,  dishes,  provisions  and  bedding, 
stores  and  fuel  must  be  supplied.  Tracks,  engines,  crews, 
watchmen,  telegraph  operators,  tallymen,  foremen,  la- 
borers, horses  for  marking  machines,  hoisting  machinery, 
chutes,  car  doors,  and  tools  are  to  be  arranged  for. 
Strikes  among  workmen  in  the  midst  of  ice  harvest  must 
often  be  reckoned  with.  If  flat  cars  are  used,  stakes  and 
planks  for  siding  must  be  provided.  Traffic  arrange- 
ments for  ice  trains  must  be  made.  The  further  the  ice 
field  is  from  headquarters,  the  greater  are  the  difficulties 
for  the  roadmaster.  The  trackmen  are  frequently  called 
on  to  do  all  or  part  of  the  work  of  the  ice  harvest,  espe- 
cially in  cases  of  emergency. 

Conserving  the  Ice  Supply. — The  secret  of  conserving 
the  ice  supply  is  to  watch  and  stop  the  leaks.  Many 
railway  eating  houses  have  cooling  rooms  too  large, 
with  ceilings  too  high,  and  with  refrigerators  near  stoves. 
Doors  are  often  not  properly  equipped  with  springs  and 
locks.  Ice  houses  often  are  poorly  insulated.  Anyone 
can  go  in  and  help  himself.  There  is  no  limit  to  the 
amount  of  ice  taken  by  janitors,  train  crews  and  office 
boys  who  leave  doors  open  and  ice  uncovered.  Large  ice 
houses  should  be  in  charge  of  attendants.  Signed  orders, 
like  fuel  orders,  should  be  required  and  ice  should  be 
delivered  by  weights  mentioned  in  these  orders.  Road 

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WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


trains  should  have  certain  fixed,  well  built  and  properly 
located  ice  boxes,  and  should  be  allowed  certain  amounts 
of  ice  per  day  or  week. 

Ice  should  not  be  sent  from  station  to  station  by  train 
unprotected,  when  it  can  be  bought  locally.  The  loss  in 
transportation  is  too  great  for  economy.  The  icing  of  re- 
frigerator cars  may  be  done  economically  or  with  great 
waste.  Speed  in  handling  from  house  to  car  is  imperative 
for  economy.  Trackmen  can  frequently  make  large  savings 
in  the  use  of  ice  by  watching  these  points  and  reporting  on 
them  to  the  proper  authorities,  especially  where  ice  is  re- 
handled  at  way  stations. 


140 


CHAPTER  X. 
ORGANIZATION. 

We  measure  labor  by  the  work  one  man  can  do  in  one 
day,  under  present  conditions  of  civilization,  government, 
customs  and  conveniences.  But  the  work  one  man  could 
do  without  these  helps  would  be  much  less.  To  make 
much  progress  man  must  depend  on  his  fellow  man  very 
largely.  The  laborer  must  be  fed,  clothed  and  housed. 
He  must  have  tools,  equipment  and  materials.  Many  men 
of  many  trades  must  work  to  supply  these  needs,  and 
they  in  turn  must  be  similarly  supplied  by  others.  The 
great  buildings  and  cities,  ships  and  Waterways,  roads 
and  railways  of  the  world  are  all  the  results  of  the  work 
of  many  men. 

First  Requisite. — The  first  thing  in  organization  is  the 
getting  together  of  a  number  of  men  who  form  the  plan 
of  action.  Their  first  need  is  money  and  credit.  A  num- 
ber of  men  may  become  stockholders,  each  furnishing  a 
certain  part  of  the  money  needed.  There  must  be  officers 
of  this  company  to  represent  the  stockholders.  These 
officers  appoint  men  skilled  in  the  details  of  construction 
and  of  organization  for  the  building  to  be  done.  The 
building  or  construction  is  further  organized  by  dividing 
the  work  into  departments,  with  a  head  of  department 
and  subordinate  officers  and  foremen.  These  men  employ 
skilled  and  unskilled  laborers,  purchase  and  furnish  tools, 
materials,  equipment,  and  money  for  wages.  Each  man 
must  know  his  duties,  his  place  in  the  organization,  the 
best  and  quickest  and  cheapest  way  of  doing  what  is  ex- 
pected of  him.  He  must  be  trained  and  skilled  in  some 

141 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


certain  work,  to  be  done  in  harmony  and  in  understand- 
ing with  others.  For  an  untrained  army  is  little  better 
than  a  mob,  though  the  men  may  be  loyal,  willing  and 
intelligent.  There  must  be  understanding,  for  no  one  can 
do  his  best  in  the  dark.  Most  men  will  do  right  if  they 
can  be  brought  to  think  right.  The  exceptions  are  crim- 
inals. There  must  be  harmony  in  plan,  in  action  and  in 
thought,  or  the  object  sought  will  not  be  best  attained. 

Peculiarities  of  Railway  Organization. — Railway  or- 
ganizations face  difficulties  peculiar  to  public  service  and 
to  lines  of  transport.  Long  distances,  legislation  and 
climate  must  be  taken  into  consideration.  The  greatest 
care  must  be  exercised  to  make  the  organization  as  near 
perfect  as  is  possible,  to  promote  an  understanding  be- 
tween men  who  seldom  or  never  see  each  other ;  to  pro- 
mote safety  and  get  the  best  work  from  men  in  different 
departments  working  on  different  details,  but  all  with  one 
object.  It  is  not  easy  to  keep  before  each  man  this  one 
object;  to  make  a  section  man  realize  that  the  company's 
life  depends  on  getting  freight  and  passengers  safely  and 
economically  delivered,  or  to  make  freight  or  transpor- 
tation employes  realize  that  a  section  gang's  place  is  on 
the  track ;  or  to  teach  each  man  that  he  must  recognize 
the  importance  of  the  duties  of  all  his  fellow  workmen  of 
other  departments.  For  a  thorough  understanding,  he 
must  know  what  their  work  is.  The  very  best  road  to 
mutual  understanding  is  personal  contact.  Organization 
is  not  merely  being  together  or  being  put  together.  It 
depends  most  largely  on  getting  together  and  keeping 
together  in  understanding  and  in  sympathy  if  not  in 
person. 

The  Foundation. — Although  organization  starts  from 
the  top,  railway  officers  start  from  the  bottom.  They  en- 

142 


ORGANIZATION 


ter  railway  service  as  section  laborers,  as  freight  handlers, 
as  office  boys,  as  engine  wipers,  as  car  cleaners.  As  they 
rise  to  more  important  positions,  they  learn  to  do  many 
things ;  they  learn  how  to  teach  other  men  to  do  them,  and 
how  to  teach  these  men  to  teach  others.  There  is  one 
best  way  to  do  everything,  and  these  methods  must  be 
studied,  practiced  and  taught.  Men  learn  not  only  from 
their  superiors  but  from  the  men  who  work  under  them. 

There  is  no  reason  why  a  man  in  a  minor  position  may 
not  get  to  the  top  of  his  organization.  There  is  nothing 
impossible  about  a  section  man  becoming  a  railway  offi- 
cer if  he  wants  to  work  hard  enough  and  will  do  it.  Every 
man  has  the  chance.  His  success  or  failure  depends  on 
himself.  But  he  must  be  a  worker  in  more  ways  than  one. 
Not  the  man  who  works  hardest,  but  the  man  who  makes 
his  work  count  for  the  most,  the  man  who  does  the  right 
thing  in  the  right  place  and  at  the  right  time,  is  the  win- 
ner. A  man  must  not  only  strive  to  learn  continually,  but 
he  must  teach  others  to  do  things  for  him ;  otherwise  he 
cannot  get  far  beyond  the  results  of  his  own  day's  labor. 
And  he  must  not  only  teach  others,  but  he  must  learn 
how  to  so  manage  men  as  to  get  them  to  do  more  for  him 
than  they  could  or  would  do  for  other  men.  Leaders  of 
men,  men  of  self  reliance,  resourceful  men,  men  who  can 
make  others  accomplish  much,  are  always  in  demand,  in 
all  kinds  of  business,  in  peace  and  in  war. 

Executive  Ability. — This  art  of  leading  men  is  called 
executive  ability.  Few  men  have  executive  ability  be- 
cause most  men  do  not  take  the  trouble  to  learn  it.  Out 
of  100  section  foremen  who  can  handle  gangs  of  5  labor- 
ers each,  probably  only  20  can  properly  handle  gangs  of 
10  men.  With  good  assistant  foremen  to  help  them,  pos- 
sibly 3  out  of  these  20  foremen  are  able  to  handle  gangs 

143 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


of  40  to  50  men.  Why?  Because,  though  they  know  how 
to  do  the  work  themselves,  most  foremen  cannot  so  or- 
ganize large  gangs,  and  so  supervise  them,  as  to  get  the 
men  to  do  the  work  correctly  and  faithfully.  It  is  natural 
that  men  should  work  much  better  for  a  foreman  who 
knows  his  business  than  for  one  who  does  not.  This 
means  that  the  successful  foreman  must  be  an  organizer, 
not  necessarily  the  strongest  foreman,  but  the  most  far 
seeing.  He  must  plan  his  work  ahead.  He  must  have  it 
mapped  out  in  his  mind  before  he  starts.  He  must  know 
how  many  men  to  put  at  each  class  of  work  to  keep  the 
entire  job  going  smoothly  and  he  must  see  that  each  man 
does  his  part,  that  materials  and  tools  and  equipment  are 
furnished,  that  boarding  facilities  are  good,  that  disputes 
are  justly  settled.  He  is  the  judge  of  all  that  goes  on 
under  his  orders.  Now,  any  man  can  learn  these  things 
if  he  will  learn.  Such  men  are  always  in  demand.  Such 
men  make  railway  officers  and  they  make  the  best 
officers. 

Suggestions  for  Those  Desiring  Advancement. — A  few 
hints  of  what  not  to  do  may  not  be  out  of  place  here,  and 
may  possibly  help  trackmen  who  have  an  interest  in  get- 
ting on  in  the  railway  world,  of  holding  better  positions 
and  taking  on  larger  responsibilities.  If  only  one  reader  is 
helped  the  author  will  feel  well  repaid  for  his  labor. 

Don't  lose  your  temper.  You  never  really  gain  any- 
thing but  invariably  lose  by  impatience,  peevishness  and 
the  showing  of  temper.  You  must  govern  yourself  before 
you  can  govern  others.  A  great  philosopher  has  truly 
said,  "Who  then  is  free?  The  wise  man  who  can  govern 
himself."  Loud  talking  and  profanity  are  signs  of  the 
undesirable  person.  Any  month-old  puppy  learns  in  a 
few  hours  to  disobey  a  person  who  yells  at  him  unneces- 

144 


ORGANIZATION 


sarily.  Many  great  men  have  reputations  for  keeping 
silent  at  the  right  time,  of  attending  strictly  to  their  own 
affairs,  of  being  polite  to  everyone,  of  speaking  quietly 
when  they  do  talk. 

Don't  correct  any  man  in  the  presence  of  others.  It 
hurts  his  pride  and  makes  him  resentful.  You  need  friends 
and  you  need  to  avoid  making  enemies.  Before  giving 
an  order,  be  sure  you  are  right.  When  given,  be  sure  the 
order  is  obeyed  without  fail.  Have  no  favorites  in  busi- 
ness. Be  just  to  all  men,  for  on  justice  is  founded  every 
good  thing,  all  that  is  right  and  fair  and  proper  among 
men,  the  world  over.  Study  your  work.  Talk  it  over 
with  your  boss.  He  will  be  glad  to  get  your  ideas.  He 
can't  know  that  you  have  any,  if  you  hide  them.  Talk  it 
over  with  your  men.  Their  ideas  may  be  better  even 
than  your  own.  Never  do  all  the  talking.  The  art  of 
conversation  is  to  keep  others  talking.  Don't  make  con- 
versation in  business.  You  can  not  learn  unless  you  lis- 
ten. To  be  a  good  listener  is  better  than  to  be  a  good 
talker.  A  man  who  knows  or  thinks  he  knows  it  all,  is 
to  be  pitied,  for  no  one  can  teach  him.  When  a  man  ceases 
to  learn,  his  brain  is  useless,  he  cannot  progress. 

Men  are  more  easy  to  lead  than  to  drive.  Leadership 
is  easiest  without  a  show  of  force.  If  you  ask  a  man  if 
he  doesn't  think  a  certain  way  of  doing  is  best,  if  you  can 
get  him  to  suggest  your  way  of  doing  a  thing,  if  you  can 
make  him  think  you  are  doing  it  at  his  suggestion  in- 
stead of  insisting  on  having  him  do  it  your  way,  he  will 
be  more  willing  to  co-operate.  Such  leadership  is  di- 
plomacy. Diplomats  are  few,  their  salaries  are  high  and 
their  services  are  desirable.  Diplomacy  is  needed  by 
every  trackman.  A  good  foreman  studies  his  men  as  well 
as  his  work.  He  cannot  do  all  his  work  with  his  own 

145 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


willing  hands.  Therefore'he  must  make  other  hands  will- 
ing. No  two  men  are  exactly  alike.  Each  man  is  a  prob- 
lem. All  must  be  tried  out.  All  must  be  given  responsi- 
bility. Some  have  one  limit,  some  another.  Some  men 
grow  rapidly  in  capability  when  given  the  chance  to  show 
their  worth.  The  study  of  men  is  even  more  important 
than  the  study  of  the  work.  This  may  all  seem  hard,  but 
it  is  easy.  It  comes  naturally  with  practice.  Any  man 
can  increase  his  wages  again  and  again  by  such  study. 
Certainly  there  are  difficulties.  Laugh  at  them.  Men 
are  made  by  difficulties.  They  are  made  to  overcome 
trouble.  The  further  up  one  goes,  the  less  trouble  he  has. 
He  gets  used  to  trouble.  He  learns  to  have  confidence  in 
himself  and  he  learns  to  scorn  trouble  and  worry.  Don't 
fail  to  learn,  to  inquire,  to  ask  questions,  to  remember 
what  you  hear.  The  time  may  come  when  information 
which  you  thought  never  would  do  you  any  good,  may 
be  of  value. 

Don't  fail  to  learn  the  work  .of  the  man  above  you. 
If  you  don't  know  his  work  you  never  can  expect  to  have 
his  job,  or  one  like  it.  Be  ready  for  the  vacancy.  Keep 
it  in  mind.  Don't  let  a  chance  slip  by.  Never  mind  if 
the  work  is  not  just  to  your  liking.  Jump  at  the  chance, 
for  chances  will  not  come  your  way  if  you  don't  take 
them.  Be  always  ready,  always  studying,  always  look- 
ing for  promotion.  When  you  knowr  you  can  do  a  thing, 
say  so.  Keep  your  eyes  open,  your  ears  busy  and  your 
tongue  under  control.  The  man  above  you  has  his  eye 
on  you.  He  is  looking  for  the  best  men.  The  others  he 
doesn't  think  much  about.  Advancement  is  sure  to  come 
if  you  want  it  bad  enough  to  force  yourself  to  do  your 
work  better  than  other  men. 

Remember  the  company's  dollar.    The  best  man,  from 

146 


ORGANIZATION 


highest  to  lowest,  is  the  man  who  can  and  does  make 
that  dollar  go  the  farthest.  This  rule  has  no  exception. 
Be  patient,  for  the  world  was  not  made  in  a  day.  You 
have  much  to  learn ;  everyone  has.  You  do  not  know  it 
all ;  nobody  does.  Do  the  things  that  are  worth  while. 
Don't  spend  time  on  the  things  that  are  not  worth  while. 
Some  worthy  things  are  better  than  others.  Choose  the 
things  that  are  best  for  you.  Let  alone  the  things  that 
are  not  the  best. 

Don't  waste  time.  It  is  the  most  valuable  thing  in 
your  life.  You  may  live  to  be  70  years  old.  If  you  are  25 
now,  you  have  45  years  to  live.  How  will  you  spend 
your  45  years?  Do  you  want  to  make  the  most  of  it? 
Then  don't  waste  a  minute.  Wasted  minutes  never  come 
back.  They  are  gone  forever.  Your  life  is  passing. 
Grasp  each  moment  and  make  it  count  for  good,  for  the 
best  of  the  good.  Don't  trifle.  Think  these  things  out 
for  yourself.  Plan  what  you  will  do  and  how  you  will 
do  it.  Be  methodical.  Plan  your  days,  your  weeks,  your 
months,  your  years.  Don't  waste  time  with  men  or  books 
or  thoughts  that  are  not  of  value.  Talk  to  men  who  can 
be  of  service  to  you.  Read  only  that  which  will  help  you. 
Do  only  what  is  best  and  right  and  useful,  and  use  your 
influence  to  get  your  men  to  do  likewise.  Plan  your 
daily  work  and  your  life  work.  Map  it  all  out  ahead. 
Keep  at  it.  Never  be  discouraged.  If  your  plan  does 
not  work  out,  try  another.  You  may  have  overlooked 
something.  Try  again.  Do  not  try  short  cuts  to  success. 
Most  of  them  are  disastrous  all  the  time.  The  remainder 
are  disastrous  most  of  the  time.  It  is  hard  work  that 
counts.  It  is  determination  that  makes  progress.  It  is 
the  real  worker  who  gets  the  best  out  of  life. 
The  trackman  has  one  great'advantage  over  all  or  nearly 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


all  other  men.  His  work  is  hard,  physical,  out-of-door 
labor.  It  is  the  healthiest  kind  of  work.  Health  is  the 
best  thing  in  life.  The  trackman  has  this  wonderful  start 
over  the  banker,  the  lawyer,  the  doctor,  the  dentist,  the 
merchant.  He  is  out  of  doors.  He  is  tired  every  night. 
His  appetite  is  good.  His  sleep  is  not  disturbed  by  poor 
digestion.  These  are  the  men  who  make  the  best  soldiers, 
the  best  railway  officers,  the  best  men  everywhere.  With 
the  good  health  born  of  hard  labor  out  of  doors,  the  track- 
man has  by  far  the  best  chance  of  success.  Then  study, 
learn,  keep  at  it.  With  your  teeth  shut  hard  determine 
that  you  will  learn,  that  you  will  rise.  You  cannot  lose. 
The  world  is  yours ;  only  keep  after  it.  Organize  your 
men,  your  work,  your  own  life.  Make  yourself  a  leader  of 
men.  It  is  all  in  your  power,  only  organize. 


INDEX 


Advancement,  suggestions  for  those  desiring 144 

Advantage  of  having  track  on  embankments 43 


B 

Bad  practice  in  shimming 61 

Ballast 11 

Braces  for  shimmed  track 58 

Bridges  vs.  track 13 

Broom  holder  for  hand  car....  75 


C 

Carburetor,  heat  in  winter 77 

Changes,  weather  14 

Characteristics  of  snow 39 

Characteristics  of  water 27 

Clam  shell  for  handling  snow 121 

Clay  r 22 

Clay,  method  of  baking 23 

Cleaning  up  behind  plow 125 

Clearing  snow  in  yards 128 

Clearing  yards  128 

Climate  and  track 11 

Climates,  cold  24 

Climates,  extremely  cold 30 

Climates,  hot  18 

Climates,   mild  20 

Climatic  variations 13 

Cold  climates 24 

Cold  climates,  extreme 30 

Cold  weather,  effect  on  track  structure 29 

Cold  weather,  operation  of  motor  cars  in 76 

149 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


Compression  on  motor  cars 83 

Conditions  adjacent  to  right-of-way 134 

Cuts,  wide 99 

D 

Defects,  winter  32 

Desert  country,  track  in 18 

Design  and  manufacture  of  shims 58 

Don'ts  for  the  trackman 144 

Drainage,  track  21 

Drifts 46 

Duluth,  South  Shore  &  Atlantic  pilot  plow 114 

E 

Economy,  real  34 

Effect  of  cold  weather  on  track  structure 29 

Effect  of  frost 26 

Embankments,  advantage  of  having  track  on 43 

Embankments  and  snow 43 

Employment,  permanent 66 

Ether  for  starting  motor  cars  in  winter 77 

Executive  ability  143 

Executive  ability  in  railway  organization 143 

Exhaust  valve  on  motor  car,  timing 82 

Experienced  men  required 65 

Extra  men  for  handling  snow 129 

Extremely  cold  climates 30 

F 

Fire  protection  for  snow  sheds 102 

First  snows,  handling 45 

Flanger,  double  track 118 

Flangers  117 

Flangers,  single  track 117 

Floods,  inspection  for  spring 133 

Floods,  spring 133 

Foreword  - 8 

150 


TN.DEX 


Foundation  for  railway  organization 142 

Freezing,  sudden  30 

Frost  ..  26 


G 

Gasoline  for  motor  cars 77 

Gasoline,  water  in 78 

Getting  over  tracks  in  winter 72 

Good  judgment  in  shimming..' 56 

Good  tools  70 

Grading  wages  72 

Grease  cups  on  motor  cars 85 


H 

Hand  car  broom  holder 75 

Hand  cars,  trouble  with,  in  winter 73 

Handling  a  push  plow 127 

Heat  and  moisture 17 

Heaving 26 

Heaving  not  uniform 28 

Hollow  topped  roadbed 22 

Hollow  topped  roadbed,  remedy  for 22 

Hot  climates  18 

Hot  climates,  track  structure  in 18 


I 

Ice,  cost  of  putting  up 137 

Ice  houses,  location  of 138 

Ice  storage  138 

Ice,  storing  137 

Ice   supply,   conserving - 139 

Ice,  time  to  start  cutting 138 

Igniter  for  motor  car 81 

Importance  of  shimming „ 50 

Inspection  for  spring  floods 133 

Inspection,  winter  32,  72 

151 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


Labor,   experienced,   required 65 

Labor,  minimum  requirements  for 35 

Labor,  permanent  employment 66 

Labor,   skilled,   required 35 

Location  of  ice  houses 138 

Locomotive  crane  for  handling  snow 121 

Locomotive  terminals,  snow  at 48 

Locomotive  water  supply 47 

Lubricator  on  motor  car 84 

M 

Materials,    winter 71 

Mild  climates  20 

Moisture   and   heat 17 

Motor  car  connecting  rod 87 

Motor  car,  cranking  in  winter 87 

Motor  car  gasoline  pipe   clogged 86 

Motor  car,  keeping  engine  protected 86 

Motor  car  mixer  pipes  freezing 86 

Motor  car,  mixture  too  lean 88 

Motor  cars,  operation  in  cold  weather 76 

Motor  car  radiator — reduce  the  capacity  in  winter 79 

Motor  cars,  reason  for  poor  running  in  winter 80 

Motor  cars,  start  engine  in  car  house 79 

Motor  cars,  steel  brush  und  holder  for  cleaning  rails 75 

Motor  cars,  trouble  with  in  winter 73 

N 

Non-uniform  heaving  28 

Number  of  shims  required 51 

O 

Operation  of  motor  cars  in  cold  weather 76 

Organization  141 

Organization,  executive  ability  in  railway 143 

Organization,   first   requisite ..  141 

152 


INDEX 


Organization,   foundation  for  railway 142 

Organization,    peculiarities    of    railway 142 

P 

Packing  on  motor  cars 84 

Permanent  employment  66 

Piece   work  70 

Pilot  plows  113 

Pilot  plow,  D.  S.  S.  &  A 114 

Plows,   cleaning  up  behind 125 

Plows,  snow  105 

Plows,   V-Shaped   push   plow 106 

Preparedness  in  the  snow  campaign 41 

Preparing  the  snow  plow 129 

Promotion,  suggestions  for  those  desiring 144 

Push  plow,   handling 127 

Push  plow,  shovel-nosed 108 

Q 

Quality  of  shims 53 


R 

Rail  Joints  12 

Rail  rests  29 

Railway  organization,  peculiarities  of 142 

Real    economy  34 

Requirements  for  good  track 21 

Requirements  for  winter  track  work 25 

Requisite   of  organization,  first 141 

Rests,   rail 29 

Right-of-way  buildings,  location  of 100 

Right-of-way,  conditions  adjacent  to  and  effect  on  floods 134 

Roadbed,  hollow  topped 22 

Roadmaster,  supervision  of   shimming 61 

Rotary  snow  plows ~ 118 

Rotary  snow  plow  with  housing  removed 119 

Russell  plow  -  HO 

153 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


S 

Safety  in  handling  snow 131 

Shimmed  track,  danger 32 

Shimming  50,  51 

Bad  practice  in 61 

Importance  of 50 

Methods  of  59 

Points  to  remember 56 

Requires  good  judgment 56 

Supervision  by  roadmaster 61 

Shims 44,  50 

Changing   out  and  spike   killing 53 

Design  and  manufacture 58 

Number  required  51 

Quality  of  53 

Requirements   for  ,...     59 

Taking  out   55 

Wide   60 

Shovel-nosed  push   plow 108 

Sidings  and  yards,  clearing  snow  from 46 

Signals  in  handling  snow 131 

Signs,  weather 14 

Size  of  winter  force 31 

Skilled  labor  required 35 

Sleds,  use  of  in  winter 76 

Sliding  banks,  cure  for 23 

Snow  „ 39 

At  terminals 48 

Characteristics  of  _ 39 

Clearing  from  yards  and  sidings 46 

Clearing  with   steam  pipes 122 

Extra  men  for  handling 129 

Handling  first 48 

Handling  with  clam  shell 121 

Handling  with  locomotive   crane 121 

Handling  with  spreader 122 

Preparedness  for 41 

Safety  in  handling 131 

Signals  in  handling 43 

Troublesome  places  43 

154 


INDEX 


Snow  boards  93 

Snow  crab , 120 

Snow   drifts   46,  100 

Snow  fence,  avoiding  necessity  for '. 94 

Cost  of i .,..     9,7 

End   of  T 100 

Other   types 9.6 

Permanent  93 

Portable   —     93 

Snow  fences  89 

Board 90 

Kind    of 89 

Location  of —     89 

Snow  handling  equipment 10'5 

Snow  plow,  preparing  the — ... .  129 

Russell    -----  lib 

Snow  plows  105 

Pilot    --  -  113 

Rotary      118 

Snow  protection,  expense  of ..  10? 

Snow  scrapers  for  hand  cars....  75 

Snow   sheds   --89.  101 

Fire  protection  ..  102 

Types  of  - -  101 

Snow   shovelers  ,— --  126 

Spark  coil  for  motor  car 81 

Spike  killing  53 

Spreader  for  handling  snow -,— •  122 

Spring  floods  -— -  133 

Steam  hose,  use  of 31 

Steam  pipes  for  clearing  snow.—  —  122 

Storage,  ice  - - 138 

Structure,  track  

Subgrade    H 

Sudden  freezing 30 

Suggestions  for  those  desiring  advancement....  144 

Summer  vs.  winter  work 36 

Supplies,  winter  .. 

Switch  points,  cleaning  snow  from....  -~  126 

155 


WINTER  TRACK  WORK 


Terminals,  snow  at 48 

Tools,  good  70 

Winter  63,  71 

Track,  getting  over  track  in  winter 72 

Requirements  for  good 21 

Track  drainage  21 

Track  force,  winter 63 

Track  foreman's  responsibility 103 

Track  structure  12 

Track  structure  in  hot  climates 18 

Track  vs.  bridges 13 

Track  foreman's  responsibiilty  in  snow  protection 103 

Trackman,  comfort  of  in  winter  weather 130 

Tropical  climates,  track  in 19 

Turntable  pit,  removing  snow 48 

V 

Valves  on  motor  cars 83 

Variations,   climatic   : 13 

V-Shaped  push  plow 106 

W 

Wages,  grading  72 

Washouts  135 

Water,  characteristics  of 27 

Waterways,   inspection   in   spring 134 

Water  supply,  locomotive 47 

Weather  changes  14 

Weather  signs  14 

Importance  of  observing 15 

What  they  mean 16 

Wet  climates   21 

Wide  cuts  99 

Wide  shims  60 

Winter  force,  size  of 31 

Winter   inspection   32,  72 

Winter,  operation  of  motor  cars  in 76 

156 


INDEX 


Winter  materials  71 

Winter  supplies  63 

Winter  track  force 63 

Winter  track  work,  requirements  for 25 

Winter  tools   63,  7 1 

Winter    work   7 1 

Winter  work,  importance  of 36 

Winter  work  vs.  summer '.  4 


Yards  and  sidings,  clearing  snow  from 46 

Yards,  clearing  up   snow 128 


157 


The  Trackman's  Chance 


What  has  been  done  for  the  trackman? 

Track  work  has  been  classed  as  unskilled  labor. 
It  will  always  be  so  classed  until  the  trackman,  him- 
self, changes  the  order  of  things. 

The  professional  man  has  his  instructive  library; 
for  the  guidance  of  the  engineer  there  are  volumes 
packed  with  technical  information  and  absolute  data; 
today  there  are  books  that  teach  even  the  grocer 
and  the  butcher  the  most  approved  modern  methods 
of  running  their  businesses  and  show  them  how  to 
double  their  earnings. 

What  is  there  for  the  trackman? 

Track  work  calls  for  unlimited  patience,  great  en- 
durance, good  judgment,  quick  thinking,  dexterity. 
It  I*  skilled  labor  and  the  RAILWAY  EDUCATIONAL 
PRESS  is  trying  to  show  trackmen  a  way  in  which 
they  may  prove  this  to  the  world.  The  RAILWAY 
EDUCATIONAL  PRESS  is  emphasizing  the  impor- 
tance of  the  trackman's  work,  so  that  the  construc- 
tion and  maintenance  of  track  shall  be  given  the 
standing  rightfully  due  them — shall  be  elevated  to  the 
dignity  of  a  profession. 

Practical  Track  Work  and  PRACTICAL  TRACK 
MAINTENANCE  are  the  first  two  completed  vol- 
umes of  a  series  of  books  on  track  work. 

These  books,  the  ones  which  are  described  in  the 
following  pages,  and  others,  will  form  a  snug  little 
library,  and  they  will  tell  everything  there  is  to  tell 
on  the  great  and  important  subject  of  track  work. 

With  the  aid  of  this  library,  any  trackman  has  it 
in  his  power  to  become  an  expert  worker.  Expert 
workers  in  any  line  are  well  paid;  they  have  stand- 
ing; they  demand  re'cognition — and  they  get  it. 


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158 


Practical  Track 
Maintenance 

(Price  $1.60  Postpaid) 
By  KENNETH  L.  UAN  AUKEN 


Table  of  Contents 

Chapter  I — The  Big  Problem — 
Labor. 

Chapter  II — Developing  Track 
Foremen. 

Chapter  III — How  to  Handle 
Laborers. 

Chapter  IV — Renewing   Ties. 

Chapter  V — Relaying  Rail. 

Chapter  VI — Ballasting  and  Sur- 
facing. 

Chapter  VII — Reports  and  Ac- 
counts. 

Chapter  VIII — Spring    Work. 

Chapter  IX — Summer  Work. 

Chapter  X— Fall  Work. 

Chapter  XI— Winter   Work. 

Chapter  XII— Track  Work  in  the 
Tropics. 

Chapter  XIII  —  Yard  Mainten- 
ance. 

Chapter  XIV  —  Rapid  Improve- 
ment of  a  Section. 

Chapter  XV  —  Track  Materials, 
Tools  and  Appliances. 


"/  know  of  nothing  ever  put  in  print  of 
such  value." 

— Engineer  Maintenance  of  Way 

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159 


Simplified  Curve  and 
Switch  Work 

(Price  $1.50  Postpaid) 

By  W.  F.  Rench,  Supervisor 
Pennsylvania  Railroad 

This  is  just  the  kind  of  a  book  you  would 
expect  from  Mr.  Rench,  who  is  a  practical, 
hard-headed  trackman,  and  who  has  been 
through  the  mill  of  practical  experience. 

The  trackman  who  has  this  book  can  cor- 
rect his  curves,  lay  out  easement  or  spiral 
'curves,  can  lay  out  switches  or  industrial  spurs 
without  assistance  from  the  engineer. 

These  difficult  technical  subjects  are  sim- 
plified into  practical  form  for  the  everyday  use 
of  the  practical  track  man. 

Made  in  pocket  size  so  that  the  track  fore- 
man can  carry  it  with  him  whenever  it  is  nec- 
essary to  line  curves  or  lay  out  switches. 

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160 


Maintenance  Methods 

(Price  $1.60  Postpaid) 
By  EARL  STIMSON 

Engineer  Maintenance  of  Way,  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
Railroad 

This  book  is  a  pioneer  in  its  field.  It  dis- 
cusses the  different  methods  of  organizing 
maintenance  work  and  gives  detailed  meth- 
ods for  getting  the  most  work  done  with  the 
least  amount  of  labor.  It  gives  the  track 
foreman  many  specific  instances  of  methods 
he  can  easily  apply  to  increase  the  work  of 
his  gang. 

Promotion  comes  to  the  track  man  who 
maintains  his  track  in  the  best  shape  at  the 
least  expense.  This  book  tells  the  track  man 
how  to  increase  his  ability  and  the  amount 
of  work  done  by  his  gang  so  that  he  may 
attract  the  favorable  attention  of  higher  offi- 
cials. 

A  twentieth  century  track  book,  giving 
the  very  latest  and  best  ideas  on  main- 
tenance methods. 

(Manuscript  under  preparation) 

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161 


Practical  Track  Work 

Or*  How  to  Build  Track  and  Switches 

(Price  $1.60  Postpaid) 
By  KENNETH  L.  VAN  AUKEN 

An  intensely  practical  and  interesting  book  on  methods  of 
doing  track  and  switch  work.  Written  from  fourteen  years' 
practical  experience. 

The  author  of  "PRACTICAL  TRACK  WORK"  was,  him- 
self, a  track  worker.  He  has  worked  ten  hours  a  day  in  all 
kinds  of  weather;  he  has  been  foreman  of  a  construction 


gang  of  foreigners — he  knows  the  trials  such  foremen  under- 
go. He  knows  the  hard,  driving  work  they  do,  often  unap- 
preciated, always  underpaid.  He  knows  all  about  it  for  he 
has  been  there  himself. 

J.  W.  Powers,  Supervisor  of  Track  on  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral says:  "I  congratulate  you  most  heartily  on  being  the 
author  of  "PRACTICAL  TRACK  WORK,"  a  book  devoid 
of  abstract  problems  and  useless  theories;  but  written  in  a 
plain,  common-sense,  and  masterly  manner  and  complete 
in  its  general  detail  of  practical  information." 

Every  man  who  wants  to  advance  and  who  wants  to  know 
how  to  construct  as  well  as  maintain  track,  will  find 
"PRACTICAL  TRACK  WORK"  indispensable. 

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The  Autocrat  at  the  Lunch  Table 

(Price  $1.60  Postpaid) 
By   BRUCE   U.    CRANDALL 

The  only  book  published  which  takes  up  the  rela- 
tion between  railway  supply  men,  and  railway  com- 
panies and  officials;  written  in  an  interesting  conver- 
sational style  and  containing  much  information  useful 
to  both  railway  and  supply  man. 


P.  L.  Maury,  sales  manager  of  The  Sherwin-Wil- 
liams Company,  says:  "I  received  the  copy  of  The 
Autocrat  at  the  Lunch  Table  and  have  enjoyed  it  so 
much  and  found  it  so  good  that  I  am  having  our 
purchasing  agent  send  you  an  order  for  twelve  copies. 
I  would  like  to  have  this  order  cover  the  one  copy 
which  you  sent  me,  leaving  a  balance  of  eleven  copies, 
which  I  wish  you  would  send  to  me  also  as  soon  as 
possible.  I  desire  these  for  our  railway  representa- 
tives, for  I  think  that  your  book  contains  a  lot  of  good 
common  horse  sense  that  all  of  us  can  read  and 
thereby  profit  from." 

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163 


THE  TRACK  PRIMER 

(Price  $1.60  Postpaid) 
By  CHARLES  L.  VAN  AUKEN 

Written  for  the  benefit  of  the  track 
laborer,  assistant  foreman  and  foreman;  a 
carefully  detailed  description  of  how  to  do 
all  the  little  jobs  in  track  maintenance. 

This  book  is  written  in  exceptionally  sim- 
ple English,  so  that  it  can  be  understood  by 
a  green  track  laborer  or  by  any  foreign 
laborer  who  understands  the  English  lan- 
guage. 

Questions  are  given  at  the  end  of  each 
chapter  for  the  reader  to  answer  and  the 
book  is  in  every  way  equal  to  a  correspond- 
ence course — at  one-twentieth  the  price. 

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Inspecting  Track  and 
Roadway 

(Price  $1.60  Postpaid) 
By  STEPHEN  J.  EVANS 

Good  track  inspection,  like  good 
track  drainage,  is  the  foundation  of 
good  maintenance.  Further,  it  is  the 
basis  of  safety. 

For  these  reasons  this  volume  on  in- 
spection, written  by  a  man  who  has  had 
experience  as  track  laborer,  foreman, 
general  track  foreman  and  roadmaster, 
will  be  in  demand  with  every  live  track- 
man. 

A  trackman  must  know  everything 
contained  in  this  volume  if  he  expects 
to  maintain  his  track  in  high  class  shape 
and  to  merit  promotion. 

(Manuscript  under  preparation) 

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165 


ROADBED  AND  TRACK 
DRAINAGE 

(Price  $1.60  Postpaid) 
By  KENNETH  L.  VAN  AUKEN 

The  basis  of  good  track  maintenance  is  a 
good  foundation;  and  a  good  foundation  is 
possible  only  with  good  drainage. 

ROADBED  AND  TRACK  DRAINAGE, 
therefore,  fills  a  long-felt  want.  It  discusses 
subgrade  conditions  and  gives  the  trackman 
information  from  which  he  can  determine 
whether  or  not  his  drainage  is  defective,  and 
then  gives  practical  methods  for  bettering  it. 

This  book  explains  why  track  frequently  is 
hard  to  maintain,  even  though  there  is  plenty 
of  ballast  and  no  apparent  reason  for  its  con- 
stant settling. 

There  is  nothing  of  greater  importance  in 
track  maintenance  than  track  drainage  and 
every  trackman  who  buys  this  thoroughly  prac- 
tical book  will  be  greatly  benefited  by  it. 

(Now  under  preparation) 

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